Election Live Blog 2012

Editor’s note: We will be live blogging throughout Election Day and into the night. Please send news tips to editor@raleighpublicrecord.org.

11:45 p.m. – Staff

We are calling it a night. It’s be an amazing night and we hoped you enjoyed it. Check out the website this week for more follow-up stories on the local races. For more video, check out our YouTube channel. Thank you to all of our viewers who used our page for updates. Thank you to our listeners who tuned into WKNC. And a big thank you to those that came to our big Election Night party. It was a big success. We couldn’t have done it without you.

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11:40 p.m. – Laura Baverman

Fire alarms are going off at the Marriott, host to the Democratic election party. Most people are filing out but some are stopping to buy T-shirts.

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11:40 p.m. – Staff

Our reporters were on the ground all night. Our photographers snapped amazing photos. Our bloggers worked outside in the cold when the internet went down. If you like what we’re doing for Raleigh and you want to support our efforts, please click here and make a donation. Every one of us would greatly appreciate it.

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11:34 p.m. – Laura Baverman

Veronica Bitting of Raleigh is overjoyed and dancing with the crowd.

“Look at the room, the diversity. This is what Obama represents. I’m most hopeful that we rebound from the recession, that kids can go to college without worrying about how to pay and Obamacare, healthcare for everyone.”

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11:25 p.m. – Lauren Ramsdell

Local excitement erupts at Democrat headquarters with the news that President Barack Obama was elected for a second term.

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[media-credit name=”Hide Terada” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit][media-credit name=”Hide Terada” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit][media-credit id=53 align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]————————————–11:13 p.m. — TV news is calling it for President Barack Obama.

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11 p.m. — Laura Baverman — at the NC Democratic Party

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10:58 p.m. — Lauren Ramsdell

A comment from Carlos Vidales, chairman of the Capital Area chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly.

He said, “I came out tonight because these are my friends. Whether we win or lose tonight, this is the crew. And I’m glad we won the governor, but we really need the presidency. If Obama is re-elected, people like you are going to be paying for my healthcare and my retirement.”

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10:54 p.m. -Ariella Monti

Wake County Board of Commissioners:

With all 200 precincts reporting

Caroline Sullivan (D), 271, 262 57 percent WINNER

Dale Cooke (R), 204,296 43 percent

Betty Lou Ward (D), 270, 471 57 percent WINNER

Paul Fitts (R) 205, 356 43 percent

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10:32 op.m. – Hide Terada

[media-credit id=53 align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]Janet Cowell surrounded by the voters at the Raleigh Marriott Tuesday evening.———————————————-

10:28 p.m. – Lauren Ramsdell

Pat Lawson,  Leader in the race for Soil and Water District Commission Supervisor

“To sum up the night in a word it would be exciting. It’s exciting to see your name come up on the screen and we’ll see how it goes for the rest of the night.”

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10:27 p.m. –  Jacob Downey

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10:25 p.m. – Laura Baverman

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10:19 p.m. – Drew St. Claire

From WRAL as of 10:07

10:13 p.m. – Drew St. Claire

From WRAL as of 10:03, 87 percent reporting

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9:47 p.m. – Ariella Monti

State Senate races

District 15 – With 53 of 57 precincts reporting:

Sig Hutchinson (D) 40 percent

Neal Hunt (R) 60 percent

 District 17 – with 40 of 41 precincts reporting

Erv Portman (D) 41 percent

Tamara Barringer (R) 59 percent

District 18 – with 30 of 37 percincts reporting

Doug Berger (D) 35 percent

Chad Barefood (R) 65 percent

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9:36 p.m. – Ariella Monti

Wake County Board of Elections website shows the Wake County Commission races are neck and neck.

With 187 out of 200 precincts reporting,

Caroline Sullivan is ahead of Dale Cooke by one point.  50 percent to 49 percent, respectively.

Betty Lou Ward is also ahead of Paul Fitts by one point. 50 percent to 49 percent, respectively.

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9:31 p.m. –  Young Lee and Sam DeGraves

I think that it will be a big republican swelling. We are becoming more conservative because people realize that is how the jobs are gonna come.  – Paul Fitts, Wake County Commissioner

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9:27 p.m. – Lauren Ramsdell

GOP attendees were glued to the projector as Pat McCrory accepted the governorship of North Carolina.

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8:19 –  Laura Baverman

Walter Dalton concession speech

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9:18p.m. – Lauren Ramsdell

Reaction to Pat McCrory being called as N.C. Governor

Aloma Crenshaw, Faye Barker and Bev Slagle express their enthusiasm for the calling of the North Carolina governor’s race.

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9:15 p.m. – Karen Tam

[media-credit name=”Karen Tam” align=”aligncenter” width=”388″][/media-credit]Jennifer Wig, the assistant editor of the Raleigh Public Record, fields incoming reports in the newsroom.—————————————————9:11 p.m. – Young Lee and Sam DeGravesAt Republican Party party at North Hills Hilton.

Pat McCrory was just voted in and that’s great. I know him personally and I know he’s going to do a lot of good for North Carolina. – Zach Ivey, 23

Looking at the results so far, I really believe Romney will pull it out. That’s what I’ve been praying for and I’m going to hope that until the end. – Jason Spriggs, 31

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9:09 p.m. – Ariella Monti

Like what we’re doing here? Want to see more of it?

Visit this page and help us keep bringing you great Raleigh and Wake County coverage.

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9:07 p.m. – Laura Baverman

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9:06 p.m. – Ariella Monti

Saying goodbye to the crew from WKNC. I hope you enjoyed our broadcast. We’ll be here until the Morning Times crew kicks us out at Midnight. Come by and eat some food.

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8:59 p.m. – Young Lee and Sam DeGraves

The Republican party is packed with people. There are mainly white adults and a few minorities.

The crowd cheered as Pat McCrory was announced as Governor of NC.

Chad Barefoot arrived at the party.

Taylor McLamb, 21, “There’s a lot of enthusiasm, there’s a lot of excitement, there are people of all different ages, and people are pretty confident about how this night will turn out.”

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8:55 p.m. – Laura Baverman

Democrats cheer as Obama wins states

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8:52 p.m. – Young Lee and Sam DeGraves

Reporters arrived at the polling place about 20 minutes before it closed and there was no line. People arrived at the polling place a few minutes before the polls closed at 7:30 p.m. and were still able to vote.

There were six people at the polling place. Three were non-partisan and three were Obama campaigners. There were no republican candidates present.

“We have received a mostly positive response for Obama. There were only a few people who gave us nasty looks,” said Katie Conlon, an Obama campaigner

“I literally just got here 5 minutes ago and I cast my vote. Everything went smoothly,” said Radiance Gibson a 20 year old student. “There were no annoying people trying to get me to choose a certain side.”

Walter Dalton, democratic nominee for Governor, and Elaine Marshall, democratic candidate for secretary of state, stopped by the polling place this morning about 11 a.m.

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8:37 p.m.- Hide Terada

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Voters and volunteers wait for the results at Marriott.———————————–

8:32 p.m. –  Lauren Ramsdell

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8:31 p.m. – Dwight Otwell

[media-credit name=”Dwight Otwell” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]NC Senate candidates map———————————–8:28 p.m. – Eugenea ZhirnovI spoke to Betsy Buford, the Democratic chair, at Trinity United Methodist church.  She had been at the polling station since 6:15 this morning.  “The line was past the block when polls opened,” Buford said. When I spoke to her, she was handing out Democratic voting information to the mostly Democratic precinct.When asked how she was so inspired to stay out here for over twelve hours, Buford said, “Fingers were freezing and toes were numb, but you just have to keep the big picture in mind. No one will care if I leave, but this could be someone’s first time voting.  Making a difference, one person at a time – that’s democracy in action.”Buford grew up in a very political, very Democratic family. She even had a family member, Frank Porter Graham, run for Senate in 1950.

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8:27 p.m. – Laura Baverman

North Carolina Democratic Party chair David Parker has arrived at the Marriott downtown. He’s confident about the President Obama’s chances for a win. Voter turnout has been heavy in the precincts that the party is most concerned with. Recent polls have shown that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walter Dalton has been gaining 5 to 6 points on Republican candidate Pat McCrory. He believes that’s a good sign for the President.

“Prognosticators can prognosticate. But this is going to be a lengthy night,” Parker said.

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8:26 p.m. – Kari Smith & Josue Terrones

We interviewed Bill Shankle at the Millbrook Exchange Park and he told me that it was a slow evening with small crowds and rather uneventful. Roxie Cash, also at the park, said that she had been there all day and that “there was a good turnout in the morning early afternoon but as of 4:00pm there was a steady drop off.”

Bryan Dumas voted late this evening and saw no issues or irregularities. “It was pretty open and calm,” said Dumas. He had no determining issue that influenced his vote, but used the consistency of the candidates and their platforms to decide who to vote for. Dumas reminded us, “It is not just about the presidential election. It is also about determining our local officers.”

When asked about the possibilities of having a president elected by the end of the night, Dumas said, “No. It’s so close. It’s going to be down to the wire,” He will be keeping up with the results, but not for too late.

Dumas said the the candidates have ran a “good race” and that at the end, the race is going to be determined by what voters believe is important to them.

Dumas also said that he will be glad that he will no longer have to look at any more political ads.
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8:21pm – Ariella Monti

Sorry for the delay, folks. We’ve had some technical difficulties. We hope you’re still listening on WKNC 88.1.

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7:30 p.m. – Ariella Monti

Polls have closed!! Now we wait.

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7:28 p.m. – Karen Tam

[media-credit name=”Karen Tam” align=”aligncenter” width=”400″][/media-credit]As sun sets on election day, poll workers continue to hand out info at the Tarboro Road Community Center polling place in Raleigh.—————————————–7:25 p.m. – Laura Baverman

[media-credit name=”Laura Baverman” align=”aligncenter” width=”400″][/media-credit]Susie Acklin, left, and Brenda Asbury have a hotel room at the Marriott. They attend the party every year to support the Democratic Party, and are especially confident the nation will go blue again in 2012.—————————————————7:23 p.m. – Dean-Paul Stephens

[media-credit id=59 align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]A long line is forming in front of the “help” desk at the Green Road polling place. According to an election official there have been a large number of people with voting issues as the polls come to a close. The official says that the majority of the people in line simply came to wrong precinct.——————————————–7:22 p.m. – Josue TerronesRobert D., 23, voted today and waited approximately thirty to forty-five minutes to vote.When asked if he had any issues, he said, “No. I did not observe any irregularities either.”Though he will be working at a local restaurant in Downtown Raleigh, Robert will be keeping up with the results on CNN.

Robert said the economy was the biggest factor in determining who he’d vote for. “Obama’s long term plan is better than a short term plan,” Robert said.

Robert does believe that the election is a close one and that it may be a couple of days before a president is determined. Yet he has no worries and likes the fact that he was able to be an active citizen and play a part in electing the president.

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7:19 p.m. – Karen Tam

[media-credit name=”Karen Tam” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]Two participants in Duke’s Journalism Fellows Program, Frantz Duval, left, an editor at a Haiti newspaper and Sven Weingartner, a journalist from Bremen, Germany, observed the election process today in Raleigh.  Here they are observing  the polling place at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh church on Wade Ave.—————————————7:16 p.m. – Karen Tam

[media-credit name=”Karen Tam” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]Voters at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church on Wade Ave.———————————————7:13 p.m. – Lauren Ramsdell

[media-credit id=56 align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]At 5:30 p.m., just two hours before the polls close, Kiwanis Park Community Center polling place was quiet. A group of campaigners stationed outside brought blankets for the cold, but didn’t have many voters to reach out to.—————————————–7:09 – Ariella MontiOur founding editor, Charles Duncan Pardo is currently on air on WKNC 88.1.——————————————-7:08 p.m. – Jacob Downey

At the Busy Bee the first two people I spoke to did not want to talk about the election, but they did want me to know they voted.

I eventually found Kelly Henderson and Jennifer Sanderson, and they decided to go to a bar on election night so they could toast to the candidates they liked or “drown their sorrows” in case they lost.

Sanderson said, “This is the most important election of my life. I’m fearful of my future because I just started my own small business this year and also I’m a woman. It’s just really hard to have one person decide whether your life gets to be fun or a hindrance. You give up a lot of control.”

Henderson was anxious about the election as well. She waited till election to actually vote because she needed time to figure out who to vote for. If the election doesn’t turn out in Henderson’s favor, she said, “Oh well- life goes on.”

At Cafe Benelux I talked to Steve H. “I enjoy voting because that’s what this country is all about, but I’m not excited about the candidates,” he said. He was frustrated that the popular vote doesn’t count as much as the electoral vote, but he voted out of a sense of patriotism and nostalgia.

“One candidate says what he thinks people would like to hear and the other says the right thing for working people but he’s only going to be taking care of the rich if he wins,” Steve said.

I found Mark H at the Oxford Pub. When asked what he thought about the election, Mark said, “I’ll let you know in five hours twenty minutes.” Mark continued by saying, “We’re in a world of hurt if this doesn’t go the way I want it to.”

Mike M, also at the Oxford, said that this election was about whether or not the power should be with the local government or the federal government. “We as citizens should vote on a local level,” said Mike M.

6:47 p.m. – Staff

Elizabeth Haddix, who is the supervisor of the NC Election Protection hotline gave us a call. The Election Protection Hotline is a central place where people can call if they have questions about voting. They can also call in tips if they see any suspicious activities at the polls.

Haddix said that they’ve gotten close to 500 calls today. The majority of those calls were technology questions and “a significant number of those have involved bigger problems,” she said.

There has been a lot of confusion about whether voters need an ID to vote. While the General Assembly discussed voter IDs, it never voted to require one. Many of those questions, she said, came from Black males.

The Election Protection hotline number is 1-866-OUR-VOTE

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5:47 p.m. – Lauren Ramsdell

Residents of Midtown Raleigh may have every right to be confused.

Precincts 01-37 and 01-30 have voted at Hudson Memorial Presbyterian Church on Six Forks Road and Brooks Museums Magnet School on Northbrook Drive, respectively, for the last several years. This year, voters in precinct 01-17 have had to find their way to North Hills Club on Yadkin Drive, which is sandwiched in between the other two polling places.

That precinct formerly voted at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church on Six Forks Road.

All of these locations are located within one square mile in a residential area of Midtown near North Hills Mall.

First-time voter Lise Ross, 20, came out to vote at the new North Hills Club location. She said she didn’t care for either presidential candidate, but voted out of a sense of duty.

“I think it’s important to all Americans to have a choice and a say,” Ross said.

But, she said, she doesn’t agree with people that aren’t informed before they vote. She said that even though she couldn’t come down firmly in support of either candidate, there were factors that swayed her vote.

“At the end of it, there were some key issues that I sided with one person with, whether I liked him or not,” she said. “And I think he will do the least damage to this country, so I picked him.”

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Gray Madden and David Foresi man the GOP campaign booth at the North Hills Club polling place. Both said most people are very receptive to the materials they are handing out.

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5:37 p.m. – Dean-Paul Stephens

[media-credit id=59 align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]Kenneth Evans, 45, after voting in the Body of Christ Church polling place on Spring Forest Road. This marks Evans 6th time voting in a presidential election.——————————————————5:22 p.m. – Ariella MontiWe’ve move from the office to our popup newsroom at the Morning Times to set up for our big Election Night party.  The festivities start at 7 p.m. We k now it’s cold, but come on down for the fun. We’ll be going live over WKNC, so if you can’t make it set your radio dials to 88.1 FM or listen to the live stream, here.——————————————————-4:25 p.m. — Laura White and Kari Smith

Mary Johnson, chief judge at the Tarboro Road Center polling place, said it’s been “mob city in there.” She said she’s worked the polls at the in the precinct for 15 years and they are breaking records. For that precinct, more than 1,100 voted early and they had another 580 voters as of 4 p.m. today. She said they average 1,800 voters.

Students from St. Augustine’s College came between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and they had to call in extra help and had a line out the door.

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3:49 p.m. — Laura White and Kari Smith

Things are very slow at Washington Magnet Elementary School, where only 40 people have voted, according to Chief Judge Betty Barton. She attributed the lull to the polling site’s relocation. The precinct residents voted last year at a different location, but the site moved for the preliminary election this past spring.

However, one voter was happy to show up and do his part

Dameyale Royster said he’s excited about voting because people in other countries don’t have the luxury.

No matter who you vote for, he said, “everybody needs to do the best they can and enjoy the freedoms we have here.”

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3:29 p.m. — Hide Terada and Karen Tam

Some voters show off their support.

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Volunteers like Josephine Taylor, left, and Carla Burgess, both of Raleigh, use this last day to remind voters to cast ballots. The pair were working out of the Obama Campaign Raleigh Field Office Tuesday afternoon.

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3:10 p.m. — Laura White and Kari Smith

Things have slowed down at some precincts this afternoon, ahead of what most pollworkers say will be a bigger rush after work.

At precinct 01-20, Roberts Park Center, Chief Judge Belinda Coleman said 383 people have voted so far and there have been no lines. She said many had voted early at that location.

Voters there seemed to be very informed and ready to vote, according to Kelli Johnson, a campaign worker. Johnson had been at the polling place since 7 a.m. and planned to be there until the polls close at 7:30 p.m.

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2:45 p.m. — Lauren Ramsdell

The day is calming down for the afternoon at many area precincts after the morning rush. However, poll workers and campaigners expect more lines this afternoon.

Precinct 01-42 votes at Millbrook Exchange Park. As of 2:09 this afternoon, there had been 644 voters, with many of them coming in the morning.

“We expect more to come vote in the afternoon around 3:30 to 4 p.m.,” said Curtis DeLoatch, Chief Judge for precinct 01-42.

Carol Jones is a campaigner for Mitt Romney and has worked for conservative elections for the last three decades.

She says that this election has brought more voters out than usual.

“I also worked at Optimist during early voting, and I would say there’s a lot more,” she said.

Jones said there was a line around 60 people deep this morning, but it has since gotten quieter.

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2:31 p.m. — Karen Tam

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Jennifer Hammond, stowed her 3-week-old daughter,  Maryn, at her feet while she voted at the Stough Elementary School Polling site.  When Mom finished voting she placed the “I Voted” sticker on Maryn.

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Three-week-old Maryon visited a polling place on Election Day.

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1:29 p.m. — Karen Tam

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Angela Salamanca celebrated her birthday Tuesday by voting for the first time. Salamanca is a new U.S. citizen, a native of Colombia. Her daughters joined her: Sara Palacio, 8, and Ana Palacio, 6. They also participated, voting in the Kids Vote area of the Saint Matthew AME Church polling place on Bennett Street in Raleigh. The two girls also received their “I voted”  stickers from a poll worker.

As they left the polling place, the trio giggled in excitement and had their photo taken by the “Vote Here” sign. Salamanca said she planned to send the photo to her entire family!

[media-credit name=”Karen Tam ” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit][media-credit name=”Karen Tam ” align=”aligncenter” width=”294″][/media-credit]

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12:39 p.m. — Dean-Paul Stephens

Wakefield Middle School has been one of the quieter voting locations.  According to Margaret King, the Chief Judge of the Wakefield Middle voting place, only 485 voters had stopped by as of 12:25 p.m.

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Election volunteers at the Wakefield Middle School polling place stand beyond the “no campaigning zone” handing out voting material to anyone who will take it. Volunteers are strictly prohibited from moving beyond the signs.

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12:05 p.m. — Jennifer Wig

Things were quiet just after noon at the Kiwanis Park Community Center.

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A voter walks into the Kiwanis Park Community Center Tuesday shortly after noon.

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11:56 a.m. – Hide Terada

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Campaign poster on Person Street near the Mordecai.

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11:32 a.m. – Lauren Ramsdell

Campaigners at the Chavis Park Community Center polling place have reported some voters expressing confusion about where to vote.

The location served as an early voting polling place. Campaigners with the North Carolina Democratic Party and Obama for America said they have had to redirect potential voters to their correct voting location. Other than that, they said, there haven’t been any problems or restrictions.

Look up your polling place at www.ncsbe.gov/myprecinct.aspx

Three members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha chapter at St. Augustine’s University stood outside and asked exiting voters if they had run into any barriers to voting. So far, they said, none had.

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11:35 a.m. – Dean-Paul Stephens

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Becky Oxholm walks through the gauntlet of election volunteers at Exchange Park’s polling place.

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North Carolina Court of Appeals candidate David Robinson shaking hands with Howard Flemming,55, and other voters as they enter Exchange Park’s Community Center at Millbrook Road.

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10:38 a.m. – Dean-Paul Stephens

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Volunteer Todd Smith hands out voter information to Akeen Plummer, 31, and his daughter Kelis at the Green Road Community Center.

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Polling volunteer Marty McCaffrey braves the cold to hand out voter guides to “anyone willing to take one.” McCaffrey said he has volunteered with the Wake County Republican Party every major election for ten years

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10:31 a.m. – Hide Terada

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Nicole Hinton, 25, of Raleigh, looks around inside of the Trinity United Methodist Church off Bloodworth Street Tuesday morning. She has been coming to the same location for past three years with her mother, Sherron Hinton.

Volunteer Caleb Smith, of the Wake County Democratic Party, hands a Democratic voter guide to Danielle Lang, of Raleigh, Tuesday morning front of the Trinity United Methodist Church polling place off Bloodworth Street.

Eva DuBuisson, of Raleigh, waits in the line for the election Tuesday morning at Trinity United Methodist Church.

The scene is quiet midmorning at the Green Road polling site.

Eliot Kim, 35, of Raleigh, walks into the polls at Powell Elementary School this morning.

Marilyn Graham shows off her sticker after voting this morning at Powell Elementary School.

More than 50 voters lined up outside of Cameron Village Library in the cold before the doors opened at 6:30 a.m.

Will Allen, who lives near Cameron Village, stands outside of the Cameron Village Library handing out Democratic Party voter guides as the polls opened today. He’s been there since 4:30 this morning and said he plans to stay until polls close at 7:30 p.m.