Election updates (closed)
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
One of the most acrimonious elections in memory comes to a close as Americans go to the polls. The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s developments as they happened.
Tim Kaine casts his ballot in battleground Virginia
Tim Kaine casts his ballot for president in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia.
The Democratic vice presidential nominee and his wife, Anne Holton, vote shortly after polls opened at 6 a.m. at a retirement community near their home.
Kaine is cheered by supporters waiting in line.
After voting, he speaks to reporters, encouraging Americans to vote and saying that if elected, he and running mate Hillary Clinton would try and bring the country together.
“The sign of a vigorous democracy is one where a lot of people participate,” Kaine said.
— AP
Friendly reminder: It’s not just about the White House
The presidential race has sucked up most of the oxygen over the past year, but there will be lots more to take in on election night, with control of the Senate and House at stake, 12 states electing governors, and assorted ballot proposals around the country.
In the House: Republicans hold a 247-188 majority, including three vacancies. Democrats could pick up 10 or more seats, perhaps even more than 20, but don’t expect to take control.
In the Senate: Republicans are furiously working to protect their 54-46 majority, with a half-dozen races seen as toss-ups.
A dozen governor’s offices also are up for grabs, at least seven appearing competitive. Among issues on ballot proposals: the death penalty, gun control, increasing the minimum wage and marijuana legalization.
— AP
Trump: ‘We have to win’
Donald Trump has a final message to his supporters in the election’s waning hours: “We have to win.”
The GOP nominee tells his final rally crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan that: “If we don’t win, this will be the single greatest waste of time, energy and money in my life.”
Trump’s final event at a local convention center was surprisingly staid, with none of the theatrics of an earlier rally in a packed arena in New Hampshire.
As he spoke, dozens of people streamed toward the exit, forming a procession in front of an area where reporters were stationed.
Some said they were trying to get closer to the door. But most said they were leaving because they were tired, wanted to beat traffic or had heard enough.
Trump says now that he’s finished his campaign, his “new adventure” will be “making America great again.”
— AP
Hillary Clinton plans a victory party under a glass ceiling
Fortune magazine reports:
On Thursday, workers were building a stage shaped like the United States, complete with outlying pillars for Alaska and Hawaii, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the block-sized venue where Clinton announced last week she’ll gather with supporters.
Its atrium has a glass ceiling, like the metaphorical one Clinton hopes to shatter by becoming the nation’s first female commander in chief. Her campaign website invites the public to sign up for information on tickets to the event.
Trump’s campaign revealed late Tuesday that it had chosen the New York Hilton Midtown, a few blocks from his Trump Tower home, for an invitation-only gathering.
The Hilton claims to have hosted every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy, and its big ballrooms are go-tos for many of the city’s major business, social and political gatherings. Trump used one in July for a news conference introducing Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center’s glass-ceilinged atrium in Midtown Manhattan, where Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton plans to hold her post-election party. (YouTube screen capture)
Candidates’ final campaign pitches launch Election Day
The candidates’ final pitches for their candidacy, made last night in the waning hours of the last day of the campaign, bear repeating.
Hillary Clinton, the 69-year old former first lady, senator and secretary of state — backed by A-list musical stars and incumbent President Barack Obama — urged the country to unite and vote for “a hopeful, inclusive, big-hearted America.”
Donald Trump, the Republican maverick billionaire, doubled down on his outreach to voters who feel left behind by globalization and social change, finishing with a flourish on his protectionist slogan: “America first.”
“Just imagine what our country could accomplish if we started working together as one people, under one God, saluting one American flag,” the 70-year-old billionaire reality television star told cheering supporters.
Read more here.
— AFP contributed to this report
Clinton team freezes in place for get-out-the-vote video
Who says presidential candidates and their entourages can’t laugh it up on Election Day?
Hillary Clinton tweets a funny get-out-the-vote video. Under the catchphrase “Don’t stand still. Vote today,” the camera walks past Clinton’s staff and close confidants, including husband and former president Bill. All are frozen in place. When the camera reaches Hillary, everyone unfreezes and laughs.
Don't stand still. Vote today: https://t.co/jfd3CXLD1s #ElectionDay #MannequinChallenge pic.twitter.com/4KAv2zu0rd
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 8, 2016
Not a bad way to let out some tension on what is surely one of the most nerve-wracking days of a candidate’s life.
‘I voted from space’: Lone American off planet casts ballot
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – The lone American off the planet has cast his vote from space, keeping with NASA’s motto of “Vote while you float.”
NASA says Monday that astronaut Shane Kimbrough filed his ballot in Tuesday’s presidential election from the International Space Station sometime over the past few days. He arrived at the orbiting lab in mid-October.
Before launching on a four-month mission, Kimbrough said it was going to be special, being able to say “I voted from space.”
In this Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, file photo, US astronaut Shane Kimbrough, a member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS), talks to his relatives prior to the launch of the Soyuz MS-02 space ship, in Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, Pool, File)
By the time he’s back on Earth in February, America will have a new commander in chief. Astronauts are “pretty much apolitical,” he told reporters last month. “And I’ll be glad to welcome the new president, whoever that is.”
A 1997 Texas law allows US astronauts to vote from space. For NASA astronauts, home is Houston when they’re not circling the globe. A secure electronic ballot is forwarded to the astronauts by Mission Control in Houston and returned by email to the county clerk.
— AP
Kaine: Hillary can win with just one of N. Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine says Hillary Clinton can clinch the White House if they win any one of the “checkmate” states.
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America Tuesday, Kaine says the battleground states of North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio each hold the key to a win for the Democratic running mates.
He says that Tuesday’s election is a “history-making race” but he also warns against complacency, saying that “democracy always works better when people participate.”
Democratic vice presidential candidate US Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, and his wife Anne Holton talk to the media after voting in Richmond, Virginia, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
— AP
Trump confident, but says ‘who knows’ on victory
Republican Donald Trump is expressing confidence on Election Day.
In a phone interview Tuesday morning on “Fox and Friends,” the Republican presidential nominee says: “We’re going to win a lot of states.” But in a rare moment of uncertainty, he added: “Who knows what happens ultimately?”
If rival Hillary Clinton wins, Trump says he won’t be looking back positively on a failed bid for the White House. He said: “If I don’t win, I will consider it a tremendous waste of time, energy and money.”
Trump says he’s spent over $100 million of his own money on his campaign. Federal Election Commission reports, however, show he’s more than $30 million short of that claim. According to fundraising records, Trump’s investment so far is about $66 million.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump exits a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
— AP
Eric, Donald Jr. say dad will concede a loss – as long as election is ‘fair’
Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., say their father will accept the results of the election if he loses, as long as the election is “fair.”
In an Election Day interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Eric Trump says his father will concede if results are “legit and fair,” AP reports.
On CNN, Donald Trump, Jr., emphasizes he’ll accept a “fair” election.
Eric explains: “All we want is a fair fight, not just for this election but for all elections.”
The Republican presidential nominee has repeatedly warned of a “rigged election,” though there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the electoral system.
Eric Trump notes “we’ve seen states where a few thousand votes can make a difference.”
Pressed by MSNBC anchors, he says of his father, “if he loses and it’s legit and fair, and there’s not obvious stuff out there then without question, yes,” he would concede.
Madonna delivers impromptu park concert for Hillary
Anyone walking by New York City’s Washington Square Park Monday night were lucky to catch Hillary Clinton supporter Madonna playing an impromptu acoustic guitar concert in the middle of the historic park.
Madonna had called out to fans on her Instagram and Twitter accounts, who show up in the hundreds as she played John Lennon’s “Imagine” accompanied by two other acoustic guitar players.
Dressed in rippled black leggings and a red-white-and-blue knit hat, the New Yorker calls out to the crowd: “Do you believe in the power of unity, do you believe in the power of prayer, do you believe in the power of love? Amen.”
Surrounded by fans waving colored streamers and a clutch of Hillary supporters wearing copycat red pants suits, the circles of people are thick around the performer, who shows up at 7:30 p.m. and is gone just half an hour later.
— Jessica Steinberg
Hillary Clinton casts her vote: ‘I’m just incredibly happy’
Hillary Clinton casts her vote early Tuesday near her home in New York state, as America chooses whether to make her its first woman president, or elect the populist Donald Trump.
Chanting “Madam President,” about 150 supporters turn out to cheer on the Democratic nominee, who votes with husband Bill Clinton at an elementary school near their home in Chappaqua.
“I’m so happy, I’m just incredibly happy,” says a smiling Clinton as she emerges from the polling station, shaking hands, mingling and chatting with the crowd.
“All my friends and my neighbors, it makes me so happy.”
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton greets supporters after casting her vote in Chappaqua, New York, on November 8, 2016. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP)
— AFP
Guarded optimism seen among Democrats – Politico
Politico’s Gabriel Debenedetti says on the site’s liveblog:
An early, super-informal canvas of prominent Dems in the most important swing states finds (very, very) guarded optimism. Each one individually pointed me to promising early voting trends, but also noted Clinton’s ground game advantage — which, as 2012 showed us, can make a big difference on the margins. Even in Ohio, which many expected to see on the GOP side by the end of the night, Dems aren’t fully panicking yet: strong early numbers from metro areas like Cincinnati are buoying their spirits.
FiveThirtyEight’s latest: Clinton has 72% chance of winning
The FiveThirtyEight site has its final prediction up on the site, and it heavily favors Hillary Clinton.
Last updated from final polling about four hours ago, it gives Hillary Clinton a 71.6% chance of winning the presidency, to Donald Trump’s 28.4%. That’s the polls-only forecast.
The “polls-plus” forecast, FiveThirtyEight’s name for the polling averages corrected to historical data that factors in past performance of polls in light of the state of the economy and other factors, pushes Clinton’s chances up slightly, to 72.2%, to Trump’s 27.8%.
That doesn’t mean Clinton will win, of course.
The polls-plus forecast puts Clinton at 302 electoral votes to Trump’s 235. But that’s with Florida, North Carolina and Nevada (50 votes put together) in Clinton’s column even though the margin in all three is very close.
The forecast gives Clinton just a 55.2% chance of winning Florida to Trump’s 44.8% — a knife’s edge in statistical terms. If Florida’s 29 votes go to Trump, the Republican candidate has 264 votes — just four short of the 270 needed to win.
Take North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes, currently teetering on a 55%-45% margin in Clinton’s favor, and FiveThirtyEight’s number-crunching is a sobering reminder for all sides that this election could go either way.
Economist polls: Even Saudi Arabia prefers Clinton
Donald Trump has captured the hearts and minds of millions of Americans, but foreigners are mystified.
The Economist publishes polls from Thailand to Finland, Germany to Saudi Arabia. Clinton wins everywhere.
Saudi Arabia, which forbids women to drive or leave the house without a male chaperone, nevertheless prefers an American woman president by an almost 4-to-1 margin.
How other countries would vote in the American election https://t.co/xPIzARkIT8
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) November 8, 2016
Trump even struggles among far-right European voters, losing to Clinton two-to-one among Alternative for Germany voters.
Only among UK Independence Party voters does Trump enjoy a 43-29 lead on Clinton. It may not be an accident that UKIP’s former leader Nigel Farage has lent a hand and campaigned for Trump in recent weeks.
‘The Onion’ tackles Election Day social media etiquette
The Onion, the famous satirical website, offers some advice on social media etiquette for Election Day.
- “It’s important to keep in mind that not everyone shares your views and that it’s your duty to explain why that makes them wrong.”
- “Remember, the ruling party will have access to your political rants during the inevitable purge of dissidents.”
- “Break up the monotony of everyone’s politically charged social media posts by taking a few jabs at organized religion.”
FiveThirtyEight’s final forecast: Clinton has 71% chance of winning, Trump 29%
FiveThirtyEight updates yet again, posting its final forecast just a few minutes ago.
Our final forecast of the year just published! Clinton is a 71% favorite in polls-only, 72% in polls-plus. https://t.co/UxLqelkmvP pic.twitter.com/yTXPTLF5Ri
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 8, 2016
The upshot: Hillary Clinton has a 71.4% chance of winning the election. Donald Trump has a 28.6% chance.
That’s the “polls only” forecast. The “polls-plus” forecast that factors in how polls performed historically in light of factors such as the state of the economy puts Clinton only slightly higher, at 71.8% to Trump’s 28.2%.
Hillary leads in all-important Florida by 54.6% to 45.4% — a razor’s edge. (Reminder: That’s her chances of winning, not level of support. RealClearPolitics shows a combined polling average in the state of 46.6% support for Trump to 46.4% for Clinton.)
North Carolina, the second state Trump hopes to pull into his column — if he gets both Florida and North Carolina, with the rest of FiveThirtyEight’s prediction holding steady, then he’s the next president — shows Clinton with a similarly close 54.9% chance of winning to Trump’s 45.1%.
99-year-old woman beats Tim Kaine to voting booth
Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, concedes on Election Day — to 99-year-old Minerva Turpin, who beat him to his Virginia polling site when it opened at 6 a.m.
“Looks like I need to get used to being number two!” he quips.
I wanted to be first at my polling place, but 99-year-old Minerva Turpin beat me to it. Looks like I need to get used to being number two! pic.twitter.com/9YvWOjuKUe
— Senator Tim Kaine (@timkaine) November 8, 2016
Voting lines are long, but few problems reported
Lines were long in some places, but few voters heading to the polls early Tuesday appeared to be encountering problems.
Presidential elections usually include sporadic voting problems, such as machines not working properly. Calls to Election Protection, a national voter helpline, included people reporting long lines as a result of machine problems in three precincts in Virginia. And election officials at a handful of precincts in Durham County, North Carolina, were using paper roll books after technical issues with computer check-in.
Ahead of the election, there was anxiety over whether voters would face problems. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said the election was rigged and Democrats warned that Republicans were planning to intimidate voters. There were also concerns about hackers disrupting election systems.
Voters wait in line to vote early Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona. (AP Photo/Matt York)
— AP
Voters speak of disillusionment, Indianapolis voter ‘so glad it’s over’
As voters cast their ballots for president, some are convinced, while others are holding their breath.
In Indianapolis, 50-year old homemaker Ranita Wires says she voted for Hillary Clinton because she trusts her, but says “this has been the worst,” and she’s “so glad it’s over.”
Craig Bernheimer votes for Donald Trump at his local polling station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, early Tuesday, saying it has more to do with “what the other didn’t bring.”
New Mexico truck driver Richard Grasmick says he admired Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and intended to vote for him, but grew disillusioned by Johnson’s televised flubs on foreign affairs issues.
He says, “I wanted to go with Gary but he failed me.” Grasmick voted for Donald Trump instead.
— AP
Obama plays hoops for Election Day luck
Politico’s Blake Hounshell reports on its liveblog:
What’s Obama doing today? According to a pool report, this morning he went to the gym at Washington’s Fort McNair, where he was playing basketball with a few friends. For the president, it’s an Election Day ritual — a superstition-driven routine reinforced by his New Hampshire primary loss to Hillary Clinton in 2008. He didn’t shoot hoops that day.
Election Day’s defining image: Lines at polling sites
The line of voters waiting to cast an early ballot at the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ office winds into the building’s atrium Monday, Nov. 7, 2016, in San Jose, California. (Ramman Kenoun/Santa Clara Country Registrar of Voters via AP)
Line to vote at St. Martin church in Chestnut Hill. Guy passing by says "I guess they're not lining up for Jesus."' pic.twitter.com/uSpULShNRk
— Helen Ubiñas (@NotesFromHeL) November 8, 2016
Adam Fohlen, his son Ari, center left, and others, wait in line outside a polling place at the Nativity School as a poll watcher sits nearby, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Voters line up on Election Day outside a fire station in Indianapolis, Indiana, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Clinton supporters pay homage at Susan B. Anthony’s grave
The possibility that a woman may be elected president of the United States for the first time carries a special poignancy for many. The grave of famed suffragette Susan B. Anthony at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, has drawn pilgrims on this Election Day.
Women are flocking to Susan B Anthony's NY State gravesite, leaving their "I Voted" stickers on headstone, in honor of historic election pic.twitter.com/bXZTjrdCKD
— Tamala Edwards (@TamEdwards6abc) November 8, 2016
Billionaires wait in line to vote, too
Warren Buffett, among the world’s wealthiest billionaires, doesn’t get special treatment on Election Day. He waits in line in Omaha, Nebraska, alongside fellow citizens.
Warren Buffett waits in line to vote before taking other voters to the polls on Ollie the Trolley in #Omaha @KETV pic.twitter.com/i1OZHTf9ee
— Jeremy Maskel (@JerMaskel) November 8, 2016
Warren Buffett poses with 20yr US citizen, 1st time voter helped through https://t.co/5v7u96QfZx campaign. @KETV pic.twitter.com/cBddf5casn
— Jeremy Maskel (@JerMaskel) November 8, 2016
"Hi, it's Buffett," says Warren as he checks in to vote in #Omaha @KETV pic.twitter.com/uxBbfcWyEw
— Jeremy Maskel (@JerMaskel) November 8, 2016
A critic of Trump, he is likely voting for Clinton. It’s not likely to make much of a difference for Hillary, though, as Trump has a 98.2% chance of winning the state, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polls-plus forecast.
In Election Day interview, Clinton confesses she prefers Coke to Pepsi
Hillary Clinton is getting some quirky questions in Election Day radio interviews.
Clinton phoned WKZL in North Carolina and was asked whether she prefers Pepsi or Coke? Coke, said Clinton.
Toilet paper — over the top or under the bottom of the roll? “Usually over, but I can live with under,” quipped Clinton.
And, sleeping arrangements. Clinton told WXKS in Boston that she won’t switch which side of the bed she sleeps on if elected president. The White House will have to put the storied presidential phone on her side, not on the side that her former president husband sleeps on.
She said: “I have my side, and it works very well for us.” As for Bill, she said, “I think he’ll be happy to let me answer it.”
— AP
Assange: Email leaks weren’t trying to influence US elections
WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange says he wasn’t trying to influence the US presidential election when his organization published hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
In a statement Tuesday, Assange denies he was trying to support Green Party candidate Jill Stein or take revenge for the jailing of former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking secret US government documents to WikiLeaks.
Assange suggests WikiLeaks would publish material on Clinton’s Republican rival Donald Trump if it received appropriate material and judged it newsworthy.
Assange says Wikileaks has not yet received information on the campaigns of Trump, Stein or other candidates “that fulfills our stated editorial criteria.”
— AP
Trump casts his ballot: ‘It’s looking very good’
Donald Trump casts his ballot Tuesday near his New York home.
After casting his vote in the basketball court of Manahattan’s Public School 59 Beekman Hill International, the Republican presidential nominee quipped to reporters that it was a “tough decision.”
Outside the polling station, at least a hundred people gathered on either side shouted “New York hates you!” before a huge media presence as Trump entered and exited.
There were also rival cheers, including from about half a dozen construction workers doing work on the street and wearing hard hats with Trump-Pence stickers.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said when asked whether he would concede if the election were called for Clinton following a bruising, often nasty campaign.
“It’s looking very good. Right now it’s looking very good. It will be an interesting day. Thank you,” Trump added at the rowdy polling station, where crowds chanted slogans in the background.
Accompanying him were his wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner and the couple’s daughter Arabella.
Earlier, two unidentified topless women were escorted out of the same polling station, shouting “out of our polls, Trump!” NBC4 News reported.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump collects his ballot with his son-in-law Jared Kushner on Election Day at a New York public school, November 8, 2016 in New York City. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP)
— AFP
Topless protest at Trump’s polling site
Two topless women protesting against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump were dragged by authorities out of the Manhattan polling place — also a public school — where Trump himself voted a short time later.
They shouted, “Out of our polls, Trump!”
Cops remove two topless protesters from the New York polling place where Trump will vote https://t.co/hPW7sZEX6U pic.twitter.com/wto7LS8EFi
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 8, 2016
Trump booed as he arrives at NY polling booth
VIDEO: Donald Trump gets booed as he arrives at his polling place. pic.twitter.com/CJcmBIt9Zl
— Anup Kaphle (@AnupKaphle) November 8, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump emerges out of polling place in NYC, waves to a booing crowd. #ElectionDay pic.twitter.com/62L7YqqhYc
— Eric Cortellessa (@EricCortellessa) November 8, 2016
Security seen upped around Trump Tower
Police are seen by passers-by establishing a tighter security cordon around Trump Tower in NY. Donald Trump, like his opponent Hillary Clinton, could be the president-elect within hours, a fact that will bring a massive tightening of security around him and any locations he is expected to visit in the coming days.
Large sanitation trucks line the exterior of Trump Tower. When asked why, cops on the ground said "security." pic.twitter.com/dPUhRXd9QQ
— Danny Freeman (@DannyEFreeman) November 8, 2016
Amid fears of deportation, Trump piñatas a ‘major seller’
AUSTIN, Texas — Amelia De La Cruz, 26, can barely fit through the door of Raquel’s Partyland pinata store, with 6 “Trumpiñatas” hanging off her shoulders.
The piñatas depicting GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump have been a “major seller” at this party store on Cesar Chavez street in Austin’s historically Mexican-American neighborhood, with De La Cruz saying they’ve sold more than 500 over the past several months.
“We sold one of [Democratic nominee] Hillary [Clinton] but it was specially ordered,” she says, making sure to add that the Clinton piñata was not meant to be smashed but was to serve as decoration at a voting party for the nominee.
Clinton-voter Amelia De La Cruz at Raquel’s Partyland store in Austin, Texas carries Trump piñatas which she says have been major sellers, November 8, 2016. (Ricky Ben-David/Times of Israel)
De La Cruz says she voted for the first time in her life today for Clinton, amid fears of Trump’s rhetoric against Mexican-Americans and other immigrants to the United States.
The fear, she says, is so real that even her eight-year-old daughter was in tears one day when asked her who she would vote for if she could.
“She just burst out crying,” De La Cruz says, visibly upset by the memory, “she just said that Trump is a bad man and that if he’s president we would all go to Mexico.”
Trump piñatas at Raquels Partyland in Austin, Texas, November 8, 2016. (Ricky Ben-David/Times of Israel)
— Ricky Ben-David
One sign of a different campaign: Two-thirds drop in TV ad spending
Among the many strange aspects of this election cycle is the dearth of television advertising.
FiveThirtyEight senior writer Farai Chideya reports:
Tim Wesolowski, the chief financial officer of the broadcast group E.W. Scripps, said in a recent company earnings call that in the third quarter, the two presidential candidates spent about a third of what their predecessors spent on the company’s stations in the third quarter of 2012. “Donald Trump in particular spent a fraction of what past Republican candidates have spent on television ads,” he said. The company took in $27 million from political ad buys in that period, half of what it anticipated.
Chideya explains:
In June, Trump bragged that he didn’t need to pay for exposure: “I make speeches, I talk to reporters,” he said. “I don’t even need commercials.” His strategy of relying on news coverage rather than ads for much of the race also meant the Clinton campaign could do less reciprocal spending.
Trump eyes wife Melania’s ballot
Pundits, especially those opposed to Donald Trump, are sharing a screen shot from footage of him voting today at a Manhattan public school alongside his wife Melania. In the photo, he’s seen glancing over at Melania’s booth, an act some are uncharitably suggesting was to ensure she wasn’t voting for rival Hillary Clinton.
This picture is everything. pic.twitter.com/m9Blodj90f
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) November 8, 2016
Eric Trump also caught watching wife vote
Like father, like son (Eric Trump photo from: https://t.co/PRSTj2JRxb) https://t.co/gtWWiaExHA pic.twitter.com/BScZtykHq8
— Brendan Coffey (@bpcoffey) November 8, 2016
More undecideds this year than in 2008, 2012
The share of the electorate choosing third-party candidates or saying they are undecided in this election is double what was reported in 2008 and 2012.
Numbers of third-party and undecided voters falling fast in national presidential polls, but still well above 2008, 2012 levels. pic.twitter.com/IH2P55LQ01
— Drew Linzer (@DrewLinzer) November 5, 2016
Progressive rabbis release Election Day prayer
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights has released a prayer that can be recited before voting and while waiting for election returns.
“A Meditation on Voting” asks to be guided toward peace during this election season.
“By voting, we commit to being full members of society, to accepting our individual responsibility for the good of the whole,” the prayer says. “May we place over ourselves officials in all our gates … who will judge the people with righteousness (Deut 16:18), and may we all merit to be counted among those who work faithfully for the public good.
“Open our eyes to see the image of God in all candidates and elected officials, and may they see the image of God in all citizens of the earth,” it continues.
The prayer appears on the group’s website in a printable version.
— JTA
Conservative rabbinic election prayer asks for integrity, unity
Progressive rabbis aren’t alone in their efforts to mark the sanctity of Election Day in America.
The Rabbinical Assembly, the rabbis’ organization of the Conservative movement, composed a prayer published last Thursday that gives thanks for “our vibrant and open democracy.”
אַתָּה חוֹנֵן לָאָדָם דַּעַת וּמְלַמֵּד לֶאֱנוֹשׁ בִּינָה
Adonai, You grant us knowledge, and teach us understanding
Help us to recognize the gift of our vibrant and open democracy and the responsibility to nurture it.
Strengthen us to take our duties as citizens seriously, to hold in our minds and our hearts
all that is at stake in this election and to fulfill our obligations with integrity
May we discern Your Divine presence and amplify Your teachings through our actions and commitments.
Remind us of the goodness and diversity of the United States of America.
May we strive to care about those with whom we disagree as dearly as we care about our own ideals.
Guide our hands to reach out to one another, certain in the truth
that what unites us is greater than anything that divides us.
חָנֵּנוּ מֵאִתָּך דֵּעָה בִינָה וְהַשְכֵּל
May you grace us with knowledge, understanding and discernment
It’s available as a printable file here.
Man selling red and blue yarmulkes at Trump Tower urges peace
Marc Daniels stands stood across the street from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, his white apron covered with pins in Hebrew and English, a pile of red and blue suede yarmulkes in his hand, telling his story to anyone who will listen.
After asking for a free yarmulke — they cost $10 each, whether red for Trump or blue for Hillary — passersby often stop to hear Daniels’ tale.
“I offered a Hillary yarmulke to Joe Biden, and he said, ‘I don’t need one, I’m more Jewish than she is,'” says Daniels.
Daniels isn’t trying to convert anyone. He’s more interested in spreading a message of peace and weeding out hate in this contentious election season.
He traveled Tuesday from his home in Springfield, Illinois to New York, the epicenter of this election and home of both candidates.
In fact, while Daniels is voting for Hillary Clinton, he’ll work with any president-elect who supports his own message.
“I’m voting for Hillary because she has embraced weeding out hatred,” he said. “But Donald could have won if he had embraced this message. He still could.”
— Jessica Steinberg
85% of American voters ‘just want it to be over’
A Politico-Morning Consult online exit poll paints a stark picture of an angry and frustrated electorate, one that likely doesn’t feel the contentious campaign that ended today offers answers to their troubles.
Fully 85 percent of participants “just want it to be over,” 72% are “anxious” and 71% are “nervous.”
“Angry,” “sad” and “overwhelmed” garnered 53%, 50% and 48%, respectively.
Morning Consult notes the middle ground of the electorate seemed hit most by the tone of the election: “Independents appear most discouraged and were most likely to ascribe negative values to the race. Sixty percent said it made them angry, 58 percent said it made them sad, 47 percent said it made them depressed, and 89 percent said they just wanted it to be over.”
What’s an online exit poll? “The Morning Consult/POLITICO Exit Poll was conducted October 18 – November 8, 2016 among 6,782 early/Election Day Voters. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of registered voters based on age, race/ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, and region.”
Trump campaign sues over Nevada polls’ late closing
The Trump campaign sues over Nevada polling places staying open after hours to accommodate long lines. Rudy Giuliani, a Trump surrogate, is especially angry.
Politico’s Mel Leonor reports:
“Democrats call it paranoia and Republicans call it reasonable suspicion,” Giuliani said on MSNBC. “How about you play by the rules? If you close at 9:00, you close at 9:00.”
A legal action filed earlier today by the Trump campaigned alleges that a polling place in Clark County, Nevada stayed open two hours past its designated closing time. The Republican poll watcher there says the extension allowed an additional 150 to 300 people to line up. But a county judge dismissed the action, saying that the campaign hadn’t yet exhausted its options with local officials.
Giuliani said the extensions may go further than today’s complaints, adding that he was in the state campaigning for Trump over the weekend and came across complaints that “two or three polling places had been kept open two or three hours long.”
“Whatever they found today is probably piled on top of that,” Giuliani said.
First election results due in three hours
Look for the first burst of election results when polls close at 7 p.m. Eastern (2 a.m. Israel time) in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.
Look for bigger blasts of numbers just after 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. (3 and 4 a.m. in Israel), when polls close in a combined 30 states and the District of Columbia.
The 11 p.m. batch of states includes big kahuna California, with 55 electoral votes. Alaska, where polls close at 1 a.m. on Wednesday, brings up the rear.
— AP
As America grows more bitterly partisan, fewer voters split their ballots
As Americans vote, it’s worth recalling how profoundly Americans have divided along party lines and allegiances.
You could read this lengthy analysis of America’s growing and increasingly angry political rift by The Times of Israel’s senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.
Or you could consider this simple comparison, reported by Politico this week:
In the 1972 Nixon-McGovern race, fully 44% of the 435 Congressional districts nationwide voted for one party’s candidate for president, but chose the other party’s candidate for their member of Congress.
That reflected in part McGovern’s low popularity. But it also showed that party identification mattered less than policy or personality.
By 2012, that figure had dropped to less than 10% of Congressional districts. Fewer Americans now split their ballots across party lines.
Breaking with GOP, Sen. Lindsey Graham votes for McMullin
Sen. Lindsey Graham says he has cast his vote for Evan McMullin, with the Republican confirming that he didn’t feel comfortable casting ballots for either Clinton or Trump.
In the prez race, voting for Hillary Clinton was always a non-starter and I couldn’t go where Donald Trump wanted to take the USA & GOP. #2
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) November 8, 2016
I voted @Evan_McMullin for President. I appreciate his views on a strong America and the need to rebuild our military. #3
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) November 8, 2016
Graham had been a strident critic of Trump, and had earlier said he would not vote for his party’s candidate.
McMullin is not expected to make a dent in South Carolina, making Graham’s vote a protest measure.
Trump tweets about voting issues in Utah
Trump, who has been continuing to push allegations of vote rigging, takes to Twitter to quote CNN reporting on ballot issues in one Utah county.
“Just out according to @CNN: ‘Utah officials report voting machine problems across entire country,'” he writes, likely misspelling “county.”
Just out according to @CNN: "Utah officials report voting machine problems across entire country"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2016
Election officials earlier said voting machine problems in southern Utah were forcing poll workers to use paper ballots, potentially affecting tens of thousands of people.
Utah Director of Elections Mark Thomas says a programming problem has affected all voting in Washington County, but so far appears it appears limited to that county.
He says about 52,000 registered voters there have yet to cast their ballots.
Election workers are trying to fix the computer problem and hope they can start using the voting machines later in the day.
Thomas says officials were prepared with backup paper ballots. But he said they will need to print more if the problem persists.
There are about 80,000 total registered voters in Washington County. Some 28,000 have already cast their ballots through early voting.
— with AP
‘Don’t let up,’ Trump urges voters
Trump has made a last-minute appeal to voters to turn out, saying the election was “far from over,” just a few hours before the first East Coast polling stations close.
Trump is looking to garner eleventh hour votes in some key battleground states including Florida — without the Sunshine State, his path to the US presidency is slim at best.
“Don’t let up, keep getting out to vote – this election is FAR FROM OVER! We are doing well but there is much time left. GO FLORIDA!” Trump tweets.
CNN is slated to release its exit poll results at midnight Israel time (5 p.m., New York), giving the world a first glimpse of US voting results.
Don't let up, keep getting out to vote – this election is FAR FROM OVER! We are doing well but there is much time left. GO FLORIDA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2016
— with AFP
Trump manager details clash with poll worker
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, a former pollster, tells Twitter about her run-in with an “unpleasant poll worker.”
Blinded by her automatic hatred for red hats, unpleasant poll worker asks me to remove this before voting. I did not pic.twitter.com/DmpTv4nBWy
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) November 8, 2016
Candidates head for New York City
Exit polls are expected to be released any minute.
Hillary Clinton has been spotted leaving her home in Chappaqua, New York, for midtown Manhattan, where she hopes to celebrate victory later tonight.
Trump will also host an event a few blocks away, and authorities have beefed up Election Day security for Trump by parking dump trucks filled with sand outside his Trump Tower building on Fifth Avenue.
A sanitation truck is parked outside Trump Tower in New York City on election day November 8, 2016. (AFP/ DOMINICK REUTER)
Police said Tuesday that similar precautionary measures were being taken at other sites around midtown Manhattan where Trump and Clinton plan to spend election night.
Authorities say the heavy trucks could block an attempted car bombing. They say there are no confirmed terror threats.
The NYPD had previously said it will deploy more than 5,000 police officers to keep order on election night. The deployment also includes police helicopters, mobile radiation detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs.
— with AP
Controversial real-time poll shows Clinton leading swing states
Slate.com, which is controversially releasing polling estimates early, shows Clinton leading in battleground states Florida, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
The numbers, which are mostly based on past polling, early voting and turnout, show Clinton leading by only a few thousand in Ohio, Iowa and Nevada. In Florida, though, which Trump needs to win to maintain a path to the White House, the Democratic candidate is ahead by nearly 300,000 votes.
Most analysts advise against putting too much stock in the Slate results.
Exit poll: Voters against deporting immigrants, worried about economy
Seven in 10 Americans going to the polls Tuesday say they think immigrants who are currently in the country illegally should be allowed to stay. Just a quarter say they should be deported.
More than half say they oppose building a wall along the Mexican border to stop illegal immigration, according to preliminary results from the exit poll conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research.
But immigration isn’t necessarily at the top of the minds of most voters. Just 1 in 10 say immigration is the most important issue facing the country.
Republican Donald Trump made cracking down on immigration a top item on his agenda.
On another issue, about 6 in 10 of voters describe the state of the economy as not so good or poor.
But that economic unhappiness isn’t as high as it was in 2012, when three-quarters called the economy not so good or poor.
Among voters today, 3 in 10 say their personal financial situation has gotten better in the last four years, while nearly as many say it’s gotten worse.
More than half of voters say the economy is the most important issue facing the country, over terrorism, foreign policy and immigration.
— AP
Exit polls show many bothered by Trump, less so Clinton
A smattering of exit polls indicate moderately good news for Clinton.
A Fox News exit poll shows 71 percent of voters are bothered by Trump’s treatment of women.
The cable channel also reports that 62% of voters were bothered by Clinton’s email scandal.
However, 49% think Clinton would make a better commander-in-chief, compared to 46% for Trump.
A CNN exit poll shows 70% of voters are white, with 12% black and 11% Latino. 42% of voters chose their candidate because they “strongly favor” that person.
However, an MSNBC poll finds 61% view Trump unfavorably, while 54% view Clinton unfavorable.
CNN says 54% of voters approve of Barack Obama, and 8 in 10 are confident the voting system is fair and not rigged.
Exit polls estimating actual votes won’t be released until polls begin to close at 7 p.m. Eastern Time
George W. Bush doesn’t vote for Trump or Clinton
A spokesman says former President George W. Bush did not vote for Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Freddy Ford says the most recent Republican president voted “none of the above for president and Republican down-ballot.” That means Bush voted for Republicans in congressional and local races.
It’s not a complete surprise. The Bush family includes the two most recent Republican presidents, but neither endorsed nor campaigned for the billionaire businessman who captured the party’s nomination.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was a one-time favorite to win the GOP presidential nomination until Trump got into the race and branded him with a name that stuck: “Low energy.”
— AP
First polls close, Trump thumping Clinton in Kentucky
The first polls are closing in much of Indiana and Kentucky. In another hour polls will close in the rest of those two states, as well as most of Florida, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia and Georgia.
In Kentucky, Trump leads Clinton 79.1 percent to 18%, with 1% reporting, CNN reports.
It is several hours until the world will have a more solid idea of who may be leading in the election, though it will be much too early to make any definite conclusions.
In Arizona, the state’s most populous county may not know its vote totals today, which could leave in doubt the presidential race in the traditionally Republican-voting state.
Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, expects to have more than 350,000 uncounted early ballots by the time the polls close. Roughly 1.1 million voters in the metropolitan county had returned early votes as of Tuesday, up 140,000 from 2012.
Election workers had counted roughly 800,000, leaving more than 200,000 to count. Roughly 150,000 are expected to have been dropped off at polling sites around the county.
Elizabeth Bartholomew, communication manager for Maricopa County Recorder’s office, says, “If there’s a large enough gap in votes, you might not be able to call some races.”
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton were running neck-and-neck in Arizona, carried by Republicans in all but one election since 1952.
— with AP
Trump seen with slight lead in new Hampshire
Numbers are also coming in in New Hampshire, showing Trump leading Clinton 52.5% to 41%, with Gary Johnson snatching 6.6% percent of votes based on 1% reporting.
New Hampshire citizens stand in line to cast their vote at Amherst Street Elementary School on November 8, 2016, in Nashua, NH. (Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images/AFP)
The state only has 4 electoral votes, but is still considered a battleground swing state in the hotly contested election.
Most polls are open there for another 45 minutes.
Trump leading Clinton in Indiana
First numbers are now being reported in Indiana, with Trump leading Clinton by a margin of 69.3% to 27.5% with 1% reporting.
That gives Trump leads in the first three places where ballot numbers are being reported, but all three were states he was expected to win or do well in in any case.
Indiana is home to Trump running mate Mike Pence.
Shooting reported near California polling station
A polling station outside Los Angeles has been placed on lockdown after a shooting nearby wounded two people.
Voters in Azusa, California, say they were told to stay inside the polling center after shot rang out nearby, according to media reports.
Two people were transported to a hospital with gunshot wounds, CNN reports.
Azusa is 30 miles outside of Los Angeles. It’s not immediately clear if the shooting is related to the election.
Republicans jeer Clinton from Jerusalem bar
Thousands of miles from the festival of democracy in the US, a heavily Republican crowd at Mike’s Place in Jerusalem is chowing down on chicken wings, as Fox News blasts in the background, awaiting the first drips and drabs of the election night results.
Likud activist Osnat Maiden, an Israeli wrapped in an improvised American flag scarf, says she came in order to show her support for Trump.
Election watchers crowding into Mike’s Place bar in Jerusalem, in the early hours of November 9, 2016. (Melanie Lidman/Times of Israel)
“There’s going to be a revolution, he’s going to win with a big margin,” she says. “The first time I saw Donald Trump a year and a half ago on Fox News, I said that man is a genius, it doesn’t matter what he says or the stupid things he does, he’s so strong, he’ll be president.”
Others in the crowd are a little testier. One man, festooned with Vietnam veterans patches, yells expletives at the TV every time it shows a photo of Clinton. “That bitch right there is a Bengazhi murderer!” he yells. “That piece of [expletive] woman is a whore!”
Cheers at Mike's Place Jerusalem as preliminary results show @realDonaldTrump in lead #ElectionNight @TimesofIsrael pic.twitter.com/rzAWYsB1rz
— Melanie Lidman (@melanielidman) November 8, 2016
“I’m so obsessed with these elections and I can’t breathe,” says Eitan Rosenfeld, who works for an Israel advocacy organization on college campuses in the US and just moved to Israel. “I voted for Gary Johnson because I think people deserve another party. The two-party system is broken. These two people are going to drive the country apart,” he says.
Though Rosenfeld noted that there were a few Clinton supporters as well, even though the Mike’s Place event was billed as an informal event for Republicans Abroad Israel.
“It’s nice to be in the same bar, that people are respecting each other. We are taking part in something so important. Democracy is so important,” he says.
Clinton thanks Pantsuit Nation for support
Clinton is thanking members of a Facebook group called “Pantsuit Nation.”
Hillary Clinton, accompanied by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, right, greets supporters outside Douglas G. Grafflin School in Chappaqua, NY, November 8, 2016, after voting. (AP/Andrew Harnik)
In a message Tuesday, Clinton said the group, which was named for her signature apparel, provides a special place for supporters to build a community. She said that “for some of you, it’s been difficult to feel like you could wear your support on your sleeve.”
Clinton also joked about the group’s moniker, saying “have you ever heard a better name?!”
The Democratic presidential nominee said she was hopeful she would win the presidential contest. If she does, she said she wants “to use those pantsuits for the best occasion of all — celebrating.”
In New York City, at least 2,000 people are already waiting inside the convention center where she is scheduled to hold her election night party.
People are held back by New York City Police as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton arrives at the Peninsula Hotel prior to an election night party at the Javits Center, November 8, 2016, in New York. (AFP/Brendan Smialowski)
Most people are sitting on the floor in an area the size of an airplane hangar. A handful of women are wearing pantsuits to honor Clinton.
Barnard College senior Madeline Walsh is wearing a black pantsuit. She says the garment means its wearer is more than just a woman.
— AP
Trump election party starts to fill up
Guests are beginning to gather at Donald Trump’s election night party in midtown Manhattan.
The GOP nominee is holding his event in the grand ballroom of a midtown Hilton hotel, where a stage has been decorated with dozens of American and state flags.
An empty stage before a post election Donald Trump rally in midtown Manhattan on November 8, 2016. (Eric Cortellessa/Times of Israel)
Trump’s campaign has also set up museum-style glass displays around the venue holding campaign merchandise, including his iconic “Make America Great Again” hats and pins.
— AP
Trump leads popular vote tally, ahead of results from bellwether states
A Fox News tally of the popular vote shows Trump leading Clinton 67% to 27%, though those numbers are only based on polls in Kentucky, Indiana and New Hampshire, all Republican bulwarks.
Numbers in more key battleground states like Florida, Georgia and Virginia are expected to start coming in in the next few minutes.
Kentucky and Indiana called for Trump, Vermont for Clinton
CNN and Fox are calling Indiana and Kentucky for Trump.
CNN calls Vermont for Clinton.
The station says Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia are too close to call.
The CNN tally, based on exit polls, gives Trump 19 electoral votes and Clinton 3.
Early Florida numbers show Trump ahead of Clinton
First votes are coming in from Florida, with Trump ahead 57.7% to Clinton’s 28.3%. Gary Johnson garners 13.3% of the vote.
The numbers all come from Citrus and Lafayette counties, in central and northern Florida, both rural areas expected to support Trump.
Clinton edging Trump in Virginia as first numbers come in
In Virginia, another battleground state, Clinton has a slight lead over Trump 49.5% to 45.5% with less than 1 percent reporting.
Polls are expected to close in Ohio and North Carolina in the coming minutes.
Trump and Clinton neck and neck in Florida
In Florida, Clinton is barely edging Trump 49.5% to 47.7%, with 30 percent of ballot stations reporting.
The state is expected to come down to the wire and is seen as a must win for Trump if he is to have a chance to garner enough electoral votes to make it to the White House.
In Palm Beach County, north of Miami, Clinton is leading Trump 61% to 37%.
West Virginia goes to Trump, Ohio and NC too close to call
CNN calls West Virginia for Trump.
The station says Ohio and North Carolina are too close to call.
The newest projections give Trump 24 electoral votes to Clinton’s 3.
Jerusalem bar keeps tabs on support for Donald and Hillary drinks
In Jerusalem, Republicans Overseas Israel director Marc Zell is “nervously but optimistically” watching the election results come in, clutching a bright red drink in his hand.
Mike’s Place in Jerusalem, the American bar hosting a heavily Republican watch party, is selling red and blue mixed drinks in honor of the candidates.
Republicans Overseas Israel director Marc Zell with a “Donald” drink next to Mike’s Place owner Reuben Beiser on November 9, 2016. (Melanie Lidman/Times of Israel)
“The Donald obviously has bourbon, we use an American bourbon, Wild Turkey,” explains Mike’s Place General Manager Udi Kaniel. Other ingredients: lime juice and sour mix, not to make any comment on Trump, Kaniel is quick to explain, but just because he likes sour drinks. Pomegranate grenadine gives it the signature red color. The Donald is garnished with an orange, for the orange hair, and, possibly, as a nod to the battle state of Florida.
The Hillary has a lemon garnish for her blonde hair. That drink has Smirnoff Vodka, Blue Curacao, pineapples for flavor, and triple sec.
“We’ve sold a close amount of Donalds and Hillary, and we won’t reveal the actual amount until later in the night,” says Kaniel. “But the difference is less than 4%.”
Zell is more preoccupied with the numbers that will soon be streaming across the TVs, though he’s pleased with the turnout at the bar. “It was supposed to be a fun thing,” he says. “Many are our volunteers, there’s a lot of energy and excitement.” As for the Donald drink? “It’s good,” he says.
Reax to first results in #Jerusalem #ElectionNight @TimesofIsrael pic.twitter.com/rUMQTBZS1f
— Melanie Lidman (@melanielidman) November 9, 2016
–– Melanie Lidman
Trump ahead in Virginia, North Carolina
Votes are being counted in Virginia, a state seen as essential for Clinton to win, but Trump is currently leading, 53.8% to 41.1%, with 13 percent reporting.
Florida remains neck and neck, with both candidates garnering about 49 percent of the vote.
In North Carolina, Trump is ahead 63.4% to 35% for Clinton, with some 130,000 votes counted.
In South Carolina, Trump is just a few votes ahead of Clinton, but fewer than 2,500 ballots have been counted there so far.
Trump slightly ahead of Clinton in Ohio
First results are also coming in for Ohio, with Trump barely ahead of Clinton 50.1% to Clinton’s 46.4%.
The numbers come from Mahoning and Warren counties, both in rural areas in the swing state.
The state is regarded as a must-win for Trump. No Republican has ever won the White House without carrying Ohio.
North Carolina agrees to extend poll hours
The North Carolina Board of Elections has agreed to extend voting in eight precincts in Durham County, where Democrats have a 4-to-1 registration advantage over Republicans.
The state board voted 3-2 Tuesday night to extend voting by an hour in two precincts most affected by a computer glitch. The problem forced poll workers to check for registered voters on paper printouts, causing long lines at some locations.
The board says six more precincts can stay open for a shorter time.
The NAACP’s North Carolina chapter had asked for the eight precincts to stay open for 90 extra minutes. Hillary Clinton’s campaign also supported keeping the polls open later in Durham.
A voter waits in a long line caused by a countywide glitch in the Board of Elections’ computer system on November 8, 2016 in Durham, North Carolina. Sara D. Davis/Getty Images/AFP)
Two groups filed lawsuits seeking to keep the polls open, but a state superior court judge declined to intervene.
The state got more attention than usual this election, and exit polls show why.
Exit polls conducted by Edison Research for national media outlets suggest a tight finish between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump for the state’s 15 electoral votes.
The polls suggest a majority of men back Trump, while Clinton won a majority among women — with the margins essentially even. The polls suggest women made up slightly more of the electorate.
About four out of five nonwhite voters backed Clinton, while about six out of 10 white voters supported Trump. But the exit polls don’t offer definitive information about actual turnout among those groups, with the estimates again pointing to a close finish.
— AP
In turnaround, Florida and Ohio leaning toward Clinton
Florida, which has seesawed back and forth, appears to be leaning toward Clinton, with the Democrat ahead 49.9% to 47.3%, with 73 percent of votes counted.
According to CNN, Democrats are increasingly confident they will take the state, while the Trump camp is watching the numbers come in nervously.
In Ohio, another key swing state, Clinton has also taken the lead, 54% to 42.3%.
Clinton has also taken the lead in North Carolina 49.7% to Trump’s 48%.
Clinton takes lead with raft of projected wins
CNN projects a slew of wins for Clinton now, giving the Democrat the lead in the electoral vote count.
CNN gives Clinton Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, DC.
Trump snaps up Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
None of the results are particularly surprising
The count gives Clinton the electoral count lead 68 to 48.
Pennsylvania joins Ohio and Florida as battleground states too early to call.
Trump leapfrogs Clinton in Florida
Clinton’s lead in Florida has disappeared and Trump now leads by some 700 votes.
The New York Times is now estimating that the state may go to Trump, with 51% certainty.
However, the paper is currently giving Clinton an 85% chance of winning the White House.
South Carolina, Missouri called for Trump
ABC News has called South Carolina for Donald Trump, giving him another nine electoral votes.
Meanwhile Fox News has given the Republican candidate Missouri, and its 10 electoral votes.
The extra 19 votes would put Trump almost neck and neck with Clinton, with her edging him 68 to 67.
Trump pulls slightly ahead in Florida
Trump is now pulling ahead in the all important state of Florida, widening his lead to some 14,000 votes with 88 percent of ballots counted.
Its not clear, though, how many ballots remain in urban or rural areas, and so the state may continue to swing back and forth. In Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, only a few votes have been counted, according to CNN.
Alabama goes to Trump, Florida on razor’s edge
Alabama and its nine votes have been projected for Trump, giving him the electoral vote lead count.
Polls have also closed in Arkansas.
But nobody cares, because Florida is so close, with Trump ahead by a few thousand votes and everyone on tenterhooks.
According to the New York Times, Trump has a 60 percent chance of winning.
The paper estimates about 1.2 million votes have yet to be counted, and says that while many of them are in the Clinton stronghold of Miami, more are elsewhere in the state where Trump is more likely to get support.
Man claiming to test system for Trump arrested for voting twice
Texas authorities say they arrested a man who claimed to be working for Donald Trump for voter fraud.
Phillip Cook, Jr. was arrested after trying to vote for a second time at a polling station in an unincorporated area outside of Houston on Tuesday. Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls says Cook told poll officials and sheriff’s deputies that he was helping the Trump campaign and testing election security.
Nehls said Cook was booked on suspicion of a felony charge.
Trump has alleged widespread voter fraud and that there are insufficient safeguards to protect the integrity of the election.
— AP
GOP projected to keep control of House, fending off Senate challenge
NBC News is projecting Republicans to maintain control of the House of Representatives, as expected.
The Senate, however, remains up for grabs, as Democrats try to wrest control from Republicans.
So far Republicans have managed to fend off most Democratic challenges, with wins by Rob Portman in Ohio, Marco Rubio in Florida, and Todd Young in Indiana.
Slew of states too early to call as more polls close
US networks have called the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota for Trump.
Clinton is projected to win New York.
According to CNN, though, most states where polls have closed remain too close to call: Arizona, Coloroda, Louisina, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin.
In the race for 270 electoral votes, Clinton now leads Trump 97 to 84.
Trump pulls ahead in swing states, electoral vote count
Trump is taking leads in the important swing states of Florida, Ohio and Virginia, making the race closer than many pundits thought it would be.
In Florida, Trump is ahead by some 130,000 votes with some 93 percent reporting. However Democrats are holding out hope since many of those votes come from Broward county, outside Miami, seen as a Clinton stronghold.
Ohio is showing Trump ahead 49.5 percent to 46.5 percent with 36 percent of votes counted.
In Virginia, considered a must-win for Clinton, Trump leads 48.8 to 46.1 with 82 percent reporting.
Texas and Arkansas are being called for Trump, giving the GOP candidate a large lead in the electoral vote count 139-97, if Missouri — only called by some news organizations — is counted.
At Jerusalem bar, students pull all-nighter to ‘watch history’
At a Jerusalem election watch party in Jerusalem’s downtown Mike’s Place bar, a group of 18-year-old Aish HaTorah yeshiva students sits at one table, watching intently in the first election where they are able to vote.
“We’re here to watch history in the making,” said Yeshua Soskil, from Maryland. He said he thinks the rabbis will “probably be OK” even if they’re tired for tomorrow’s classes. “We can’t miss this, we can’t sleep through this,” says Ezra Epstein, a fellow Aish HaTorah student from New Jersey, who voted for Gary Johnson.
So many screens…. @TimesofIsrael #ElectionNight #Election2016 pic.twitter.com/ZC5x5HLNeE
— Melanie Lidman (@melanielidman) November 9, 2016
“I basically feel like the Republican party is dying, they are taken over by this crazy guy,” he says.
He believes that eventually Libertarians will gain more traction and eventually overtake the Republicans.
“I’d like to see Trump win because I think it will be so entertaining to watch,” says Epstein. “Though I’ll also feel safer with Trump, I feel like my survival chances are best with him.”
— Melanie Lidman
Trump maintaining lead in Florida
Projecting some Democratic panic over what is happening in Florida, political strategist Steve Schale notes on Twitter that Trump is doing better in much of Florida than any other Republican since the infamous George W. Bush – Al Gore battle there.
This is pretty remarkable – in 41 counties in Florida, Trump's share is better than the best share that any R has gotten since 2000.
— Steve Schale (@steveschale) November 9, 2016
Trump has maintained his lead in the state, with 97 percent of votes counted.
The New York Times is now giving the Republican an over 95 percent chance of winning the state, keeping his White House hopes alive.
In Pennsylvania, though, another important swing state, Clinton has jumped out to a strong 60 percent to 37 percent lead, with 14 percent of votes counted.
Trump gets Louisiana, Clinton takes Connecticut
Donald Trump is being projected to win Louisiana, bumping him up by another eight electoral votes.
But Clinton is being given Connecticut and its seven electoral votes.
Both results were expected, but the strong showing from Trump was not and analysts are saying he may in fact win the White House against all odds.
Trump has leads in Georgia, Michigan, Virginia and North Carolina.
In New Hampshire, he has a lead of just a few thousand votes.
Meanwhile, Clinton is maintaining leads in Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maine and Wisconsin.
NY Times: Trump has 58 percent chance to win
The New York Times election tracker is giving Donald Trump a 58 percent chance of winning a White House, a remarkable turnaround for a candidate predicted by polls to take a thumping just a few days ago.
Trump is maintaining and building on leads in Florida, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina and Georgia.
In Virginia, though, Clinton has managed to whittle Trump’s lead down to less than 1 percent.
Subdued scene as Tel Aviv Dems watch results
Heads buried in their phones, maybe two dozen Democrats in Israel sit on mismatched chairs and on hammocks suspended from the ceiling at Tel Aviv’s hip Abraham Hostel.
One lone, pregnant woman wears a blue T-shirt bearing Hillary Clinton’s “Stronger Together” slogan. The rest of the Democrats in Israel are more subdued in their support.
Democratic supporters in Tel Aviv watch election night coverage on November 9, 2016. (Judah Ari Gross/ Times of Israel)
Wolf Blitzer, projected on a wall, is giving them bad news.
Their candidate, Hillary Clinton, is down by 31 electoral votes.
Clinton’s still got time, of course, with some of the larger and more clearly Democratic states yet to declare one way or the other.
But as CNN’s Jake Tapper mentions Trump’s “unexpected” results thus far, one Clinton supporter who just walked in lets out an audible gasp, and pulls up a chair.
— Judah Ari Gross
Clinton takes gossamer lead in Virginia
Democrats enjoy a rare spot of good news as Clinton takes a slight lead in Virginia, after votes near Washington, DC, are counted.
Clinton is now ahead by some 5,000 votes with 92% reporting.
Trump wins Montana
Polls have closed in a number of western states and Trump is projected to win Montana and its three electoral votes.
Nevada, Utah and Iowa are all too close to call.
Trump backers in New York excitedly cheer gains
Inside Donald Trump’s election night event in midtown Manhattan, the crowd is getting ready to paint the town as red as the country is starting to look.
With returns showing the GOP nominee winning in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina — states he needs to clinch the White House — an elated sea of people in red Make America Great Again hats is preparing itself for a victory that would fundamentally alter the United States.
Bellows of joy have become a recurrent norm here, with the occasional chant of “USA! USA! USA!” whenever a state is called for Trump.
Carol Minor cheers during Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown on November 8, 2016, in New York City. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP)
“They said he couldn’t do it and he’s doing it,” one supporter says. “We are proving all the mainstream media — and especially that Clinton News Network wrong.”
More than anything, there is a sense of vindication from these Trump backers. It’s too soon to tell who will win this election, but for the moment, they feel their fate hangs in the balance, with their leader primed to deliver on his vow of taking them to their political promised land.
— Eric Cortellessa
Stocks plummet over prospect of Trump win
Traders around the world are reacting with jitters as Donald Trump appears to be moving into the lead in the race for the White House..
Markets have gone into free fall and the Mexican peso is tanking, while safe haven assets rallied as investors went running for cover, with the yen and gold rushing higher.
Tokyo ended the morning session 2.2 percent down, having been up more than one percent at one point, while Hong fell 2.1 percent and Shanghai sank one percent.
Sydney gave up 1.7 percent, Seoul shed 1.7 percent and Singapore dived 1.4 percent. There were also losses of more than one percent for Taipei and Jakarta.
Futures on the Dow on Wall Street plunged 2.6 percent.
Clinton is considered by many investors to be a safer bet than Trump, who is seen as a loose cannon with policies many fear could wreck the world’s top economy.
“Put your seat belts on because this is going to be a bumpy ride,” Chad Morganlander, a money manager at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. in Florham Park, New Jersey tells Bloomberg News.
— AFP
Republicans celebrate with shots, optimism at Jerusalem bar
Bleary-eyed Trump supporters in Jerusalem at an informal watch party at the Mike’s Place bar continue to gain confidence as the results continue to roll in.
“We’re looking at a map I wouldn’t have expected,” says Republicans Overseas Israel director Marc Zell. “I don’t want to bring the evil eye on us, but it’s looking really good.”
Israel Jacobowitz, a Brooklynite who decided to move to Israel a month ago, bought a bottle of vodka from the bar and was trying to encourage people to take shots with him. “I’m not a fan of Donald Trump, and I don’t like his model, but Hillary Clinton is a criminal, whether or not she gets indicted it doesn’t matter,” Jacobowitz says.
Israel Jacobowitz offering shots to Trump supporters in Jerusalem on November 9, 2016. (Melanie Lidman/ Times of Israel)
Jacobowitz says he refused to vote for either candidate this year, but he is still celebrating because he doesn’t want Clinton to win.
“I’m optimistic, it was a little rough in the beginning, but it’s picked up as time went on,” says Reuven Ashenberg, the Beit Shemesh coordinator for Republicans Overseas Israel.
The crowd thinned out, from a rowdy 100 people at the start of the night to about 30 people staring at the screens around the bar. “The diehards are here, that’s the key,” says Ashenberg.
The only Clinton supporters in the bar are at one small table, as well as other members of the media.
CNN gives Trump major battleground state of Ohio
CNN has called the state of Ohio for Donald Trump, the biggest win of the night so far for the Republican candidate.
Beyond 18 electoral votes, Ohio is also seen as a key swing state and no Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio.
In more bad news for Clinton, analysts are noting that the Democratic candidate is not exactly clobbering Trump in the cities of Detroit and Philadelphia, which bodes poorly for her.
In a tweet reminiscent of somebody trying to put a happy face on bad news, Clinton thanks her supporters “no matter what happens.”
This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/x13iWOzILL
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 9, 2016
‘I can’t watch this anymore,’ Clinton supporter in Tel Aviv mourns
At a Democrats Abroad event in Tel Aviv, two people give a half-hearted clap as the news comes in that Hillary Clinton took New Mexico.
That lackluster applause is rapidly followed by someone muttering a four letter word, as CNN runs through the ways Donald Trump can win the election.
The number of “Democrats in Israel” wearing Clinton paraphernalia holds steady at one, but another organizer has walked in with some homemade signs they’ll use to track which states are going to which candidate.
One Clinton supporter whips out his phone, refreshes FiveThirtyEight, the popular projection site, and shows me the screen.
“How is she at 51 percent,” the supporter asks. Earlier, she’d had closer to a 75% chance of winning, according to the site.
Another, watching the results come in, turns away from the screen, “I can’t watch this anymore.”
— Judah Ari Gross
Jews overwhelmingly backed Clinton, exit poll shows
No religious group showed less enthusiasm for Donald Trump than the Jews.
According to the New York Times exit polls, only 18 percent of respondents voted for the GOP candidate, compared to 74 percent who voted for the Democrats’ Hillary Clinton.
Voters cast their ballots in the presidential election at the East Midwood Jewish Center polling station in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on November 8, 2016. (AFP/ ANGELA WEISS)
This is the lowest Jewish turnout for a Republican since 1996, when Bob Dole brought in 19 percent, pundits say.
— Raphael Ahren
Clinton projected to win Virginia
CNN has called Virginia for Clinton, handing the Democrat a major win in a state that was seen as a near shoe-in just 24 hours ago.
The loss of Virginia could have spelled doom for Clinton, and she may still have trouble defeating Trump, but the win keeps her well in the race.
However, Clinton still faces uphill battles in Wisconsin and Michigan, two states most predicted her winning handily.
In the west, Trump has a small lead in Arizona, and a large lead in Utah, where Evan McMullin has just 21 percent of the vote, alongside Clinton’s 22 percent and well behind Trump’s 50 percent.
Clinton wins Colorado, but NY Times gives her slim chance of victory
The Associated Press and others are now calling Colorado for Clinton, giving the Democrat another boost.
At the New York Times, though, the paper’s live election tracker is giving Trump 90% or higher to win the election, inviting derision from the Twitterati.
Glitch or too much alcohol over at the NYT? pic.twitter.com/8P9srLk00d
— Steve Miller (@SteveMiller202) November 9, 2016
I don't know who will win this election, but I do know this…
Somebody at the @NYTimes is getting fired right now. pic.twitter.com/T0j1dtJzPM
— Dr. Milton Wolf (@MiltonWolfMD) November 9, 2016
The forecasting site fivethirtyeight is still giving Clinton a 50 percent chance of winning, to Trump’s 48 percent chance. It’s well below the chances it had given her earlier.
Clinton now has 131 electoral votes, to Trump’s 168.
Trump captures Florida, widening path to White House
The Associated Press has called Florida for Trump, a major prize for the candidate and perhaps the biggest key thus far in his bid for the White House.
CNN projects Clinton winning California and Hawaii and Trump winning Idaho.
Oregon and Washington State are still up for grabs.
The only state with polls still open is now Alaska.
The numbers give Trump 201 electoral votes to Clinton’s 190.
Trump wins North Carolina, Clinton’s chances narrow
CNN gives North Carolina to Trump, bumping him up to 216 electoral votes, including Florida.
Clinton’s chances seemingly now come down to Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
In Michigan, Trump is maintaining a 48 percent to 46.9 percent lead, with about half of the votes counted.
In Wisconsin, Trump has a seemingly commanding lead of 49 percent to 45.8 percent with 60 percent reporting.
And in the Quaker State, Clinton is maintaining a lead of 49.2 percent to 47.3 percent for Trump, with 80 percent reporting.
Utah called for Trump, ending McMullin’s bid
Fox News has called the state of Utah for Trump. Its six electoral votes move him up to 222, but more importantly, the win puts a nail in the coffin of Evan McMullin’s hopes to block Trump from being able to reach 270.
McMullin spox @RinainDC: "Regardless of what happens tonight, we are declaring victory." #Utah
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) November 9, 2016
Oregon goes to Clinton, Americans apparently want to go to Canada
CNN has called the state or Oregon to Clinton, bumping her up to 197 electoral votes, but still well shy of Trump’s 222.
As Americans seemingly make good on threats to flee to Canada should Trump win, they are apparently overloading a site hosted by the Canadian government designed to detail citizenship eligibility.
The threat to move to Canada by the side supporting the loser is a common trope in presidential election years.
‘Lock her up,’ gag media, rowdy Trump backers in Jerusalem cheer
The 20 people left at the Mike’s Place bar in Jerusalem, where Republicans in Israel is holding its election night event, are starting to get rowdy, clapping wildly and jumping for joy, as Trump solidifies his lead.
As CNN calls Florida for Trump, the bar erupts into chants of “Lock Her Up!” and an especially inebriated American starts yelling about shutting down the liberal media, specifically The Times of Israel.
Trump supporters at Mike’s Place bar in Jerusalem on November 9, 2016. (Melanie Lidman/ Times of Israel)
The journalists and Trump supporters are at about a 1:1 ratio.
While the rest of the bar jostles to get photographed, a lone Clinton supporter sits in silence with her head in her hands in the corner.
— Melanie Lidman
Trump grabs Wisconsin, Iowa, needs 32 more electoral votes
Fox News is now projecting Trump will win Wisconsin and Iowa, giving him another 16 electoral votes and putting him just 32 electoral votes shy of the White House.
At the Trump party in New York, the crowd cheers wildly upon hearing the news, and erupts into chants of “lock her up.”
Donald Trump wins Wisconsin. Crowd here starts chanting "Lock her up! Lock her up!" #Election2016
— Eric Cortellessa (@EricCortellessa) November 9, 2016
CNN joins others in projecting Florida for Trump.
In Michigan, Clinton has narrowed Trump’s lead to about 26,000 votes, with 62 percent reporting.
Trump lead ‘sad and hard to believe’
Steve Rabinowitz, the head of a pro Clinton Jewish superpac, is responding to the Trump’s gains with sorrow.
“This is phenomenally sad and incredibly hard to believe,” he says. “For what very little it’s worth, Jews voted in smaller numbers for Trump than they did for [Mitt] Romney or [John] McCain.”
— Rebecca Shimoni Stoil
Trump wins Georgia, Clinton nabs Washington state
CNN has declared Washington state for Clinton, giving the candidate another 12 electoral votes for a total of 209.
CNN however also hands Georgia and its 16 electoral votes to Trump, giving him 254 total and leaving him just 16 votes shy of the White House.
A group of women react as voting results come in at Democratic presidential nominee former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s election night event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, November 8, 2016, in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP)
While Clinton backers are reacting with tears and dismay, Trump’s supporters are joyously celebrating.
Trump supporters celebrating in streets of New York #trump #abc730 #usaelection pic.twitter.com/rd7XEkScFq
— Phil Williams (@PhilWilliamsABC) November 9, 2016
Rowdy Jerusalem crowd of Trump backers grows
Republican representatives in Israel who started the night with pessimism are now looking at the next four years with a totally different attitude as an election watch party in Jerusalem continues.
At the beginning of the night, a subdued Marc Zell, the director of Republicans Overseas Israel, had warned the crowd that it could be a “short night,” implying an early defeat of Trump.
But now, with Zell already off to Tel Aviv for a round of TV interviews, the crowd has started growing again as people wake up to begin their day. Teenagers are coming into the bar with their parents, and many new faces are starting off with chants of “Lock Her Up!” rather than a cup of coffee.
“I’m feeling a lot better than the people in Times Square, my friend just told me it was silent there,” says Republicans Overseas Israel spokesman Abe Katsman. “I’m not shocked by this, if the polls were undercounted by even a percent or two, they were so close in each state, that you really didn’t know. My personal feeling is I’m not a full-throated Trump cheerleader. I’m glad he won, I really feel that America dodged a bullet by not having a Clinton presidency. I am pleased, but not euphoric.”
Katsman adds that as this is his third presidential campaign in Israel, it feels good to be on the winning side.
“When your hope is that the polls are off, if that’s what you have to hold on to, well, you’d like to have more than that in your corner going into election night,” he says. “It says a lot about how terrible a candidate she is. She is so flawed and so disliked by so many people, that even with all the media behind her and all the right people behind her, she still couldn’t beat Donald Trump, a man with no government experience, as controversial a figure as they come, who put his foot in his mouth at so many points. At the end of the day, I take great encouragement in the people he has surrounded himself with, from both the American and Israeli perspective.”
As newscasters, even on Fox News, express concern about what Trump might do to America, people in the crowd yell expletives at the screen and shake their fists.
— Melanie Lidman
Trump maintaining lead in Michigan
Trump is continuing to lead in Michigan, by some 52,000 votes.
Should he take the state, it would mean a major shocking victory that could clinch the presidency for the Republican outsider.
Together with the other states called by various networks, Trump would reach 270 electoral votes, the magic number needed to send him into the White House.
Follow new liveblog for ‘unbelievable’ results
It’s a brave new day in Israel, for better or worse, and that means a new liveblog.
“This is unbelievable,” a senior foreign diplomat stationed in Israel says, referring to the election results, not the new liveblog, at an event at the institute for national security studies in Tel Aviv.
“I hope this won’t be another Brexit moment,” the diplomat adds.
Read the new liveblog here.
read more: