The Shrine

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>The time for voting is here. All U.S. citizens get out and vote!</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Kerry, 5pts</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Kerry, 5pts</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Tahoma; text-align: left; '>Michael Moore and MTV may have gotten young people to register in record numbers, but the chance of them actually voting is slim, especially if it is going to be crowded all day long.

My wife had to just go home and go to bed, she'll have to try again on her way to work, which will probably be just as bad. I'm going during my lunch today.</div>

<div style='font: ; text-align: left; '>Er, I meant NOW, the time for voting is NOW.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt ; text-align: left; '>Dude, the Redskins lost, it's in the bag. :)</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>A print-out-and-keep guide to the results
An hour by hour guide to US election night

Simon Jeffery
Tuesday November 2, 2004

One of the many quirks of the presidential election is that a candidate
who spends tens or hundreds of millions to persuade the voters relies
on the say-so of the television stations to know if he has won.

Until 2000 this worked well. A combination of exit polls and early
counting meant networks could call the states and proclaim a president
by bedtime. But then Florida was called for Al Gore. Then for George
Bush. Then no one knew the result until December.

Will it happen again? There may be more hesitation this time around,
and a greater emphasis on being right than being first - but the
statistical models and polling methods have been overhauled, and you
should not be too surprised if states are being called for either
candidate relatively soon after the polls close.

If they are, this is how to read the results.

7pm EST

It is 7pm in the US eastern time zone and polls are closed in Georgia,
Kentucky, Indiana, South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont.

This is an easy start. The first five are Bush states and Vermont is
for Kerry. If either of these go the other way (Georgia was going
52%-42% for Bush in the most recent poll) it will be a major upset for
the other side and the television pundits will start talking in terms
of landslides. This is extremely unlikely.

Turnout figures should now be emerging. The conventional wisdom is that
a high turnout favours the Democrats, but Republican efforts to
mobilise their supporters mean this cannot be taken for granted.


7:30pm EST

Polls close in Ohio and West Virginia - now we are in the interesting
part. The Democrats did some last-minute campaigning in West Virginia -
a shaky Republican state - and a Kerry victory, even a strong showing,
bodes well for his nationwide result. A clear Bush win would suggest he
is holding his ground against the challenger.

Ohio may take a while to come through. The polls are on a knife-edge
and both sides have fought hard: Kerry visited it close to 30 times in
the campaign and Bush almost 20. No Republican has won the White House
without it, and if Kerry loses he needs to go on to take Florida and
Pennsylvania to be in with a decent chance.

8pm EST

Polls close in Alabama, Tennessee, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri and
Oklahoma and should go to Bush. Connecticut, Delaware, the District of
Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey are
expected to vote Kerry. If any of these votes the other way, it looks
bad for the losing side. The most likely is for New Jersey to switch to
Bush. If it does, Kerry is having a bad night.

Three more swing states could now be called, though it may take a while
for results to filter out. Kerry can expect to win New Hampshire and,
according to the final polls, be feeling confident about Pennsylvania.
A lot now depends on Ohio, which closed half an hour ago. If Bush has
won it, and then wins Florida another term in the White House is
looking likely. If Kerry loses Ohio, the Sunshine State starts to look
like a necessity. If he wins all three he can start planning his first
trip on Air Force One.

8:30pm EST

Both Arkansas and North Carolina, where the polls are now closing are
Bush states. Neither are likely to swap but a strong Kerry vote on the
back of Bill Clinton's campaigning in Arkansas over the last week would
point to a strong showing nationwide. If Bush loses it, he is having a
bad night.

9pm EST

You could now be getting an idea of who the winner is. Of the polls
closing now Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming will
go to Bush and Rhode Island and New York to Kerry.

If the Ohio-Florida-Pennsylvania axis has not yet been called - or all
you can see on the television are lawyers - the swing states of
Colorado, New Mexico and Wisconsin will start to look crucial.

Michigan and Minnesota are historically solid Democrat states but could
be vulnerable to Bush. The worst case scenario for Kerry would be if
Michigan (which only carries three less electoral college votes than
mighty Ohio) fell to the incumbent. He can win without it, but it
starts to look like a less credible challenge. The same is true for
Bush in Arizona. If he loses in the south-west he is starting to look
weak on his home turf.

10pm EST

Monatana and Utah are Bush states. Iowa and Nevada are two swingers
edging towards Bush. If Ohio has still not been called and Kerry wins
Iowa (plus Michigan and Wisconsin) it points to a Democrat sweep of the
Midwest that points to the White House.

11pm EST

One candidate should really look in the lead now. California, Oregon
and Washington should go to Kerry and Idaho and North Dakota. A toss-up
state is normally Democrat Hawaii. Polls put it in the balance and in a
very close election its three votes could be decisive.

midnight - 1am EST

Alaska, the last state to close its polls, will go to Bush. If Bush has
a lead but Kerry is three votes short, do not sit up expecting the
result to hinge on Alaska. Go to bed.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>I think that anyone who makes a concerted effort to vote will.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Tahoma; text-align: left; '>Took me an hour and a half today... fucking Northern Virginia, cant do anything fast.</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>It's never good when the main reason to vote for a guy is 'cause you hate the other guy. Give Bush another controversial win</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Here is more proof that Bush will win...dammit</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Doesn't matter much, our state has gone Republican since 1964 (Lyndon Johnson).</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Next time around, keep in mind that you can get an absentee ballot for any reason in Virginia.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Flip voted for the Whig party candidate. :)</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Tahoma; text-align: left; '><b>Link:</b> <a href="http://www.lp.org">http://www.lp.org</a>

I vote for who i think will do the best job.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>Well, that's just stupid! : )</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Tahoma; text-align: left; '>lol, i was just kidding, i voted Bush. Libertarians do have a nice platform though, but i dont agree with legalization or free immigration.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Tahoma; text-align: left; '>lol, i was just kidding, i voted Bush.  Libertarians do have a nice platform though, but i dont agree with legalization of drugs or free immigration.</div>