Just a programming note…
Pam’s House Blend is teaming up with the great folks of the state blog BlueNC to cover primary results. We will provide real-time coverage with commentary, polls, videos and more using CoverItLive. You’ll be able to get in-depth perspectives on the presidential primary — and important downticket races — from the folks on the front lines here in the Tar Heel state. I will be stationed at the Jim Neal election hub at Southern Rail in Carrboro, NC (for non-Tar Heels, Carrboro’s a couple of blocks from Chapel Hill).
***
Voting this AM
Although we have early voting here in NC, I chose to wait until today to see how turnout would be at my precinct (#54, in southern Durham).
At 7:00 AM it was starting to get packed, with the line was out the door. There were plenty of yard signs out in front — I personally put out a Jim Neal sign. I got in just in time, because around the time I left (7:40), there was literally a traffic jam waiting to get into the complex.
Demographically the precinct is pretty diverse — there were white soccer mom/dad types, young black voters, senior black voters, people of all colors on their way to work.
UPDATE: We are already receiving reports of voting problems — in Granville County.BlueNC has the scoop.
Some NC facts:
2000 Census data on the state. From a 2007 census estimate, the racial makeup of the state is 70% white American, 22.3% black, 1.2% American Indian, and the remaining 6.5% are Hispanic or Latino. In terms of voter, the registration has been explosive:
* More than 165,000 people have registered to vote in North Carolina in the first three months of the year, a nearly threefold increase from the same period in 2004.
* More than 45,000 black voters have registered in the first three months of 2008, compared with just over 11,000 in the same period four years ago.
Voter registration as of today (via State Board of Elections):
Democratic: 2,633,381 Republican: 1,933,658 Unaffiliated: 1,244,739 Total: 5,811,778
Absentee Counts as of 05/06/2008 6:00am:
Absentee Mail Ballots Returned: 24,900 Absentee Onestop Ballots Cast: 471,006
% of Early Voters
Men 38.7%
Women 60.8%
White 56.5%
Black 39.9%
White Women 33.2%
White Men 23.1%
Democrat 84.1%
Unaffiliated 15.8%
Here is the voting equipment used in our state. Durham uses optical scan AutoMARK.
Reporting Voting Irregularities
From the News & Observer’s Under the Dome, a place to put voting problems in the comments, and links to critical info:
Did you have any trouble voting today?The elections watchdogs at Democracy North Carolina can offer some help. They have set up a Web site to answer questions about elections laws, your rights and your ballot.
They are also working with the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to provide a toll-free hotline for voters who have problems.
The Election Protection hotline is 866-OUR-VOTE.
9 Responses to “NC Primary: BlueNC and the Blend to provide joint coverage starting at 7PM”
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I’m in precinct 30 in East Durham and went to vote about 8:15 this morning. There wasn’t a line or a traffic jam, but a nice steady stream of people. I imagine more people went to vote earlier, before work.
Was overjoyed to cast my vote for Jim Neal!
I think Hillary will lose both in IN (by a hair) and NC (by a lot)
For Indiana projection go here:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/05/indiana-toss-up-but-tilts-clinton.html
result go here:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#IN
NC result:
(Obama wins. just waiting for number.)
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#NC
It’s over for Hillary. NC margin is too big for her to bridge with superdelegates.
Time for Hillary to say good night. Kentucky won’t help her much. Obama will simply outspend to close the gap.
I guess Edward’s crew finally deliver the knock out punch.
Obama team call IN for Hill, 15K margin. (split delgates down in the middle?)
Hmm, Obama might win IN popular votes afteral. (current number is already split delegates 50-50)
No way Hillary can win the nomination. the rest of race will only give change about 5-8 delegates total to either side.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/06/gary_mayor_predicts_possible_i.html
Gary Mayor Predicts Possible Indiana Shocker
Updated 11:12 p.m.
By Alec MacGillis
As the fate of a nailbiter Indiana primary — and possibly the course of the Democratic race — hung on his city, Gary Mayor Rudy Clay said just now that it might take a while yet to finish counting the vote in Lake County, which includes Gary, and said tonight his city had turned out so overwhelmingly for Barack Obama that it might just be enough to close the gap with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“Let me tell you, when all the votes are counted, when Gary comes in, I think you’re looking at something for the world to see,” Clay, an Obama supporter, said in a telephone interview from Obama’s Gary headquarters. “I don’t know what the numbers are yet, but Gary has absolutely produced in large numbers for Obama here.”
Clay said the results were late coming in from Lake County because of the large numbers of absentee ballots that had to be counted — about 11,000. Under local practice, all of the cartridges from voting machines in Gary and nearby East Chicago are first collected at the local airport before being driven to the county headquarters to be tallied with the results from the rest of the county, he said. He said there were no major technical problems holding up the count.
Hillary is canceling all public appearance. Sounds like she is dropping out.
no more money I guess.
Rumor has it, Hillary is loaning herself $6.4m. This should be interesting.