Posted, 6:47 p.m. — Barack Obama tonight became the first Democrat since 1964 to win a Nebraska electoral vote.
The Ballot Box is calling the Omaha-area race for Obama.
In an e-mail interview tonight, the head of the Douglas County Election Commission said his office was continuing to count the onslaught of early-voting ballots it had received.
“We have counted around 15,000 early voting ballots today,” said Dave Phipps, election commissioner of Douglas County, where Omaha is located.
Phipps acknowledged a report in the Omaha World-Herald that said the newspaper also was calling the race for Obama. Election Web site fivethirtyeight.com also has called the race for Obama. Keep reading →
Posted, 11:17 p.m. — One day after Americans chose Barack Obama — a black man — as their next president, Omaha resident and mother of two boys Deborah Bridgman — a black woman — said this: “Oh, my God. Can this be real?”
Omahan Deb Bridgman says she feels that her vote influenced history. BRAD DAVIS/The Ballot Box
Bridgman, who before the election said Obama’s ascent would open the eyes of African-Americans to the possibilities in their lives, voted along with 52 percent of her fellow Omaha residents for Obama.
The Douglas County Election Commissioner on Wednesday said his office still was counting 9,000 absentee ballots, and would not declare a winner in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District until possibly next week.
A majority of voters in Douglas County, which overlays the city of Omaha, voted for Obama, but residents of suburban Sapry County, which makes up a small, but not inconsequential, part of the 2nd District, chose John McCain.
The latest count showed Obama trailing McCain by 569 votes out of more than 250,000 cast. Up for grabs is the Omaha area’s one electoral vote.
Whether or not Obama wins the 2nd District, Bridgman said her vote influenced history.
“It matters,” she said.
Before the election, Bridgman had purchased an Obama bumper sticker she affixed to her gray minivan. It read: “African Americans for Obama.”
Wednesday, Bridgman took a Magic Marker to the sticker.
At roughly 12.30am today, the most relieved students who spilled out onto Columbia University’s campus and the surrounding streets of Broadway and Amsterdam were probably not the staunch supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. They were the university’s journalism students who had just completed their most ambitious project yet: extensive multimedia coverage of the U.S. presidential election.
Posted, 1:02 p.m. EST — It’s still too close to call whether Barack Obama will snag the Omaha area’s one electoral vote.
Still undecided: the Omaha area, Missouri and North Carolina. Photo/FIVETHIRTYEIGHT.COM
Of course, it won’t technically matter because Obama now is estimated to have 349 Electoral College votes, according to major news organizations. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
Nebraska allots its five Electoral College votes proportionally, a system that makes it differ from all other states except for Maine.
As of Wednesday afternoon, races had been called in most of the state’s precincts. John McCain won four of Nebraska’s five electoral votes.
In the 2nd Congressional District, which overlays the core of the Omaha metropolitan area, things were different: Residents of the city of Omaha chose Obama 51 percent over 48 percent for McCain. Keep reading →
Posted at 2:24 a.m. EST — The Nebraska Secretary of State reported early Wednesday the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which overlays the core of the Omaha metropolitan area, would give its electoral vote to Barack Obama.
If the initial count, with more than 93 percent of the votes tallied, holds, Nebraska would give an Electoral College vote to a Democrat for the first time since 1964.
All but four of Nebraska’s 93 counties voted for John McCain, according to the Secretary of State’s latest count. Keep reading →
Posted, 7:49 p.m. — Kenyan Americans were among thousands of voters who went to the poll to decide the 44th President of the United States.
They braved the morning chill in New Jersey to ensure their votes counted, in boosting Senator Barack Obama’s chances of occupying White House. Keep reading →
8th graders from Holy Name of Jesus School rally for Obama on the Upper West Side
Posted 7:33 p.m., NEW YORK – They can jump, dance, rap and sing, but they can’t vote. These are the 8th grade students from Holy Name of Jesus school, on the Upper West Side. The girls were seen on 95th and Broadway by passersby, chanting an impromptu rap, “Whose gonna lower your taxes? Obama, Obama, Obama!”
One of the girls, who had picked up an Obama-O’Donnell sign and waved it around to people in cars, was very enthusiastic about her contribution.
“Well we can’t vote, but we can do this to make a difference,” she said.
Curtis High School in Staten Island hosts voters from the 18th, 19th and 20th electoral districts. Photo: Jackie Bischof
Gloria Smith is having a long day.
She woke up shortly after 4 a.m. to arrive at Curtis High School near the north shore of Staten Island by 5:30 a.m. By 11 a.m., she’s had her eye on the hundreds of voters that have already streamed through the door of the school. She’ll be spending her whole day there, answering questions from nervous first-time voters, directing the queues of impatient people, doing her job as a Democratic Party poll watcher.
She is not looking forward to this evening’s after-work rush, but was buoyed by the early morning voter turnout.
“It was amazing to see how many people came out and voted so early. I feel wonderful,” she said. “People feel like they are taking part in progress and they’re energized.”
Posted 5:06 p.m. — Fazal Fazlin, a retired businessman and philanthropist from St. Petersburg, FL has been a longtime member and big donor to the Republican party, but this year he’s had a change of heart.
“I’m a Republican, but I think on the federal level I really got tired of President Bush’s policies in the world,” he said.
Fazlin, who is also a Muslim, feels that the attitude of the Republican party towards Muslims has put “him over the edge.” He said that especially in St. Petersburg, Muslims are leaning towards the Democratic party this year.
“I think the Republican party has energized the muslim party to vote for Obama,” he said.
Fazlin, whose main circle of friends are actually not Muslim, but a mix of people of all backgrounds, said that after he decided to vote for Obama, “many of them followed too.”
Fazlin, whose known in political circles in Florida to throw fundraisers at his estate, offered to use his home for a fundraiser for Obama.
“The more I met the man, the more I liked him,” he said.
– BY INSIYAH SAEED
Fazal Fazlin discusses his choice for President 2008
Pennsylvania has yet again maintained its status of being a swing state in presidential elections.
Four years ago, President George W Bush, who was then seeking re-election on a Republican Party ticket, and Senator John Kerry, the Democratic Party candidate, engaged in a bruising battle for votes in the Keystone state. Keep reading →
