I’m heading home now. But first… BrendanLoy.com Orange County Correspondent Andrew Long gives us an update to his previous report on electronic-voting problems in southern California:

“As of ~12pm, we heard later reports on the radio and via the Registrar that the voting machine problem was simply that voters were being given the wrong access code for the Republican ballots and that is why they weren’t working. However, we heard very recently that Assemblyman Ken Maddox (incumbent Republican in the 68th district, termed out, running for 35th Senate district which also emcompasses Westminster) is down at the (a?) precinct where they are having problems, and while we don’t have a full report from him yet, initial feedback is that the problem is much more serious than they are letting on–that nobody can access the Republican ballots and they are redirecting voters elsewhere. Radio reports suggest this is happening all over San Diego county as well, but I haven’t heard an update yet.” (emphasis added)

(more…)

Slate’s Jack Shafer has exit-poll numbers from eight states — all except California and Minnesota — and Kerry is winning in 7 of the 8. The only state he’s losing: Vermont! To DEAN! By a landslide!!! [”Annoy the media! Stop the sweep!” –ed.]

The only Kerry-Edwards contest that’s remotely close is Georgia, and even that is Kerry by 11 points. Alas, time to break out the concession speech, Johnny Boy — it’s over:

CT: Kerry 63, Edwards 26, Dean 5
GA: Kerry 50, Edwards 39, Sharpton 7
MD: Kerry 59, Edwards 28, Sharpton 4
MA: Kerry 75, Edwards 16, Dean 3, Kucinich 3
NY: Kerry 61, Edwards 21, Sharpton 10
OH: Kerry 58, Edwards 30, Kucinich 10
RI: Kerry 70, Edwards 21, Dean 5
VT: Dean 63, Kerry 33, Kucinich 3 (Edwards not on the ballot)

Very bad news for Edwards:

Kerry up 11 in Georgia;
Kerry up 25 in Ohio;
Kerry up 38 in Maryland.

If those numbers are remotely correct — and the early exit polls have been pretty darn accurate this primary season when the spread is at least 10 points — Edwards is doomed.

It’s not out of the question that he could pull a Carolinian Comeback in Georgia — 11 points in a leaked exit poll is not a 100% solid margin — but he’s clearly going to lose badly in Ohio, which was the state he really needed to maintain any semblance of viability. Barring a huge upset somewhere else (the Connecticut Surprise? :), I think he’s done.

And anyway, It’s The Delegates Stupid — today, it really is — and if those numbers hold up and bear out across the country, Kerry’s lead will be nigh insurmountable by the end of the evening.

Welcome, InstaPundit readers! Please see my election coverage below and in my Election 2004 category. And thanks for the link, Glenn!

Wonkette (who is hung over), shows us some goofy-looking pictures of John and John, and muses, “How are those exits coming, anyway?”

Here at BrendanLoy.com, we’re wondering the same thing. Nothing yet from Drudge or The Corner. But our sources tell us it’s going to be a Lord of the Rings sweep… what? oh, nevermind. :)

I’m not sure if this means anything (I doubt it), but I just got an e-mail from the Edwards campaign a few minutes ago, soliciting my last-minute support in getting out the vote, and concluding — emphasis added — “Together, we have watched some surprising Election Days. We know that John Edwards is the strongest candidate to take on George W. Bush across the country. You and I can make a difference today. Get on the phone! Get out the vote!”

I think I will do just that — call Kristy and make sure she’s voted, or plans to vote and knows where she’s going. The California-based server that hosts our database here at work is mysteriously down (more e-voting glitches! :), which means that for the moment, I can blog and/or make phone calls to my heart’s content, and not feel bad about it!

[Welcome, Instapundit readers: Be sure to check out my Election 2004 category, and visit my homepage!]

BrendanLoy.com Orange County Correspondent Andrew Long, a campaign worker for Republican legislative candidate Van Tran — who, if elected, would be the first Vietnamese-American state or federal elected official in the country — reports via e-mail:

“KFI 640AM is reporting that there are numerous problems with electronic voting machines across San Diego and Orange counties.  They mentioned specifically Westminster, which is in our district and where we are counting on thousands of Vietnamese votes.  If they have problems with voting machines in an ethnic community that is going to be vital to the turnout and results of at least the supervisorial and assembly races, there’s going to be a lot of noise.  So far we have not been able to get confirmation about what is going on from the Registrar of Voters, however, we are pretty sure that if there are problems, we’ll be getting flooded with calls from our Vietnamese voters.  Since this hasn’t happened yet, we’re not too worried at this point.”

Andrew says he’ll try to give us an update in a few hours.

UPDATE: “Some voters turned away from polls,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

Some voters found themselves turned away from their polling places early this morning as poll workers grappled with the new electronic voting system.

The registrar’s office did not know how many precincts were affected and had yet to decide whether the problems were significant enough to extend tonight’s 8 p.m. voting deadline.

And it’s not just California that’s having problems, reports the Hartford Courant:

One Maryland polling place had to switch to paper ballots Tuesday because its new electronic voting machines didn’t work. State elections supervisor Linda Lamone said technicians expected to have the problem fixed quickly.

Voters also had to start out using paper ballots in Georgia’s Effingham County. Chris Riggall, a spokesman for Secretary of State Cathy Cox, said county officials apparently forgot to program the encoders — devices used to tell ballot access cards, which voters insert into the machines, what ballot to display. [”Forgot where we put the petitions, man!” Whah whah whah. –ed.]

A security issue also arose in Georgia.

Georgia Tech student Peter Sahlstrom said he found 10 Diebold terminals sitting unprotected in the lobby of the school’s student center Monday. Sahlstrom, 22, photographed the machines in their unlocked cases. [Hee hee hee, a man after my own heart. I wanna see those photos! Send ‘em in, Peter! –ed.]

“Frankly, this makes me nervous and … it validates a lot of the concerns I already had,” Sahlstrom said in a phone interview.

UPDATE: Drudge is giving this a siren, as I figured he would:

But hey, thanks to Andrew, I beat Drudge to the story by almost an hour!! :)

And thanks to Google, I found sharp-eyed Georgia Tech student Peter Sahlstrom’s website, and have e-mailed him to ask for those voting-machine photos. I doubt he’ll send them to me — he’s probably got Fox News and CNN calling, and maybe offering him money — but I figured hey, it can’t hurt to ask.

And, thanks to the occasional slowness of the database, I have time to post this crap legitimately without skipping out on work! :)

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Aha… the Associated Press already has Peter’s photos. I should have figured that from the article, but didn’t think to check until just now. Oh, well.

InstaPundit is now leading with this as well. Glenn comments, “You can’t expect any system to work perfectly, of course, but this really doesn’t seem ready for prime time.”

FINAL UPDATE TO THIS POST: Andrew provides us with an update on the electronic voting problems, above.

Drudge seems to think today will be the end of the road for Edwards. He’s calling it Senator Johnny’s “last dance” and predicting a “Super Tuesday” for Kerry:

I hope he’s wrong, but I fear and suspect that he’s right. Methinks the Comeback Carolinian, although clearly the thinking man’s candidate :), has simply run out of time.

We should have a pretty good sense of Edwards’s chances — or lack thereof — by early this afternoon, when the early, unofficial, leaked exit-poll numbers should begin to trickle out. Check Drudge, The Corner, and Wonkette for the leaks as they happen. (On previous primary days, the first numbers have appeared anytime between 1:45 and 4:00 PM Eastern.)

Stay tuned to BrendanLoy.com, too, of course. I’ll post the early numbers as soon as I see ‘em — indeed, exit-poll posting will probably replace my regular lunch-break update today, since I intend to work through most of lunch so I can leave on the early bus, in hopes of being home before the polls close in Ohio (5:30 Mountain time) and certainly before they close in Connecticut (6:00).

Speaking of Connecticut, we may have a blog report this evening from Newington Correspondent Joe Loy. It is a Loomer-Loy tradition to head down to the local precinct — my elementary-school alma mater, Elizabeth Green School — at 8:00 PM on election night, and watch the results get counted. My dad says he’ll try to do the same this year, and report the results (and maybe even some pictures). No promises, but stay tuned.

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, Los Angeles Correspondent Kristy LaPlante will be voting today for the first time in her life. I suggested that she audio-blog about her experience, but I don’t know if she’ll take the bait. A bit further south, Orange County Correspondent Andrew Long will be frantically working his tail off, doing Get Out The Vote efforts for his legislative candidate of choice — so much so that I’m sure he won’t have time to post anything, but I sent him the audblog info just in case.

Elsewhere in the Brendansphere, Texas Correspondent Chris Fahrenthold and Chicago Correspondent Adrienne Graves will perhaps be hoping that the race is still being contested when it reaches their states (next Tuesday and the following Tuesday, respectively).

Finally, back east, Virginia Correspondent Dane Lindberg will be watching the results in nearby Maryland, but will probably not be attending any campaign events tonight, since Edwards plans to spend election night in Georgia, and Kerry in Florida. :)

I had a little fun with Photoshop (well, Graphic Converter, actually) on the bus ride to work this morning. I couldn’t resist:

Hehe. :)

When the Newington girls basketball team takes the floor tonight against Hall for a first-round state tournament game, the Indians will be trying to end a five-game state-tournament losing streak that could be called the “NFA curse,” and advance to the second round for the first time since 1997.

During my sophomore year in high school, Newington — seeded #9 in the state, but really much better than that after a grueling schedule — won its first- and second- round games before facing #1 seed and eventual state champion Norwich Free Academy in the quarterfinals. The Indians lost in triple-overtime in a game that participants on both sides said was one of the hardest-fought, well-played basketball contests they had ever seen at any level.

Alas, ever since the NFA loss, Newington has lost in the first round of states every time they’ve tried — 51-48 to Masuk in 1998, 52-34 to Trumbull in 1999, 52-42 to Bristol Central in 2000, and 60-49 to Naugatuck in 2003. (The Indians did not qualify for the state tournament in 2001 or 2002.)

But this is the Indians’ highest seed (#11) since 1997 (they were #20, #26, #22 and #27, respectively, in their last four appearances), and their first tournament game at home since the 1997 first round. So hopefully this is the year they can break the streak.