Gordon Campbell US Election 2012 Blog - Update #6

1pm - First Results Virginia a Tie In Exit Poll

As polls close in six states CNN has projected expected wins for Romney and Kentucky and Obama in Vermont. And the race for the electoral college begins with 8 votes to Romney and 3 votes to Obama. The winner needs to get to 270 electoral votes.

The exit poll in Virginia shows a 49 to 49 tie. If this proves accurate then the first battleground state could take all night to declare a result. However pundits are already talking about the "Reticent Republican Voter" phenomena which has been used to explain why exit polls in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 election under-estimated the republican vote. (Alastair Thompson)

12.50pm

Great quotes from the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, which has been reporting four hour queues to vote in Florida :

Edward Tate said he hasn't stood in a line this long since he waited to ride the Screaming Eagle rollercoaster at a Six Flags amusement park…"I don't feel [negative advertisements] have any place in politics, especially if it's not true," said Tate, of Winter Park..

And this :

"I've seen ants move faster," said Mark Kalicki,60, holding an umbrella over him and his wife, Valerie, 53. This line is also the longest one the couple has waited in to vote for an election. But Valerie is here to vote on matters that are important to her such as abortion, women's rights and Social Security…

And this :
When Jamie Mincey arrived at Precinct 216 in Orlando's Pine Hills community to vote, she expected a long wait. What she didn't expect was to be told that she was in the wrong place. After more than an hour in line at Apostolic Church of Jesus Orlando West, Mincey learned to her dismay that she should have been at Precinct 215, just down the road. She said she did not recall receiving a notice from the Supervisor of Elections office that her precinct had changed.

For Mincey, who recently suffered an injury to her leg, had surgery on an arm, and said standing on her feet for any length of time is painful, the news was a real disappointment. But as she called a relative to come pick her up to take her to the correct precinct, she said her commitment to voting was unchanged.

To a considerable extent, this mess is a creation of the Republican governor Rick Scott’s refusal to extend voting hours. This is in marked contrast to 2008 in Florida. Back then, the then Republican governor Charlie Crist signed an executive order to extend kept early voting hours. Scott has shown no similar commitment to democracy, and Crist recently denounced Scott’s actions as “ indefensible.” Or you could call it another version of vote suppression. ( back in 10 minutes)

(Back in 10 minutes.)

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