By: Posted on

This post was created collaboratively by The Hewitt Times section editors throughout the 2012 presidential election night.

Check back throughout the evening for a live update of the 2012 presidential election from the Hewitt Times editors!

4:46 pm: Check out Beyond 75th’s  coverage of the election, Inside the Polling Site and New Yorkers Rock the Vote

4:48 pm: Ohio still said to be the deciding factor in tonight’s election, according to the Washington Post

6:45 pm: Polls in seven of the battleground states will close before 9pm.

6:48 pm: Indiana and Kentucky polls have already closed. Romney leads with 60% and 68% of the votes counted so far in each state respectively (only 1% of the votes have been counted and taken into account at this time).

7:02 pm: According to CNN’s live coverage and predictions, Romney currently has 8 electoral votes, and Obama has 3.

7:34 pm: Romney’s projected electoral vote thus far has raised again to 24, with Obama’s staying at 3.

7:57 pm: There have been more than 11 million #Election2012 tweets just today!

7:59 pm: Romney leads the popular vote by 1%.

8:03 pm: Romney nabs South Carolina and Georgia electoral votes. His count has raised to 49. Obama stays at 3.

8:29 pm: Electoral vote count- Romney: 88, Obama: 64.

8:31 pm: Tune into NBC to watch how they cover the map on the Rockefeller Center ice rink with red and blue as each state’s votes come in.

8:34 pm: Arkansas, the first.

8:36 pm: Obama is now at 78 electoral votes, while Romney stays at 88.

8:43 pm: #VoteObama and #IVoted are trending on Twitter. Not to mention, Illegal ballot photos have been surfacing on Facebook and Instagram all day. ‘No photos in the voting booth’ was clearly not a strictly enforced rule.

8:49 pm: Obama supporters make fun of the fact that Romney lost his home state.

8:56 pm: 63% of the votes are in for the swing state of Florida with 50% for Obama and 49% for Romney.

8:57 pm: Connecticut.

8:57 pm: Chris Murphy defeats Linda McMahon in CT Senate Race.

8:58 pm: Two minutes left to vote in NY. Run!

9:02 pm: Polls stay open in VA and FL due to long lines.

9:04 pm: Fox News projects that all 16 of Michigan’s electoral votes will go to Barack Obama.

9:06 pm: Electoral vote count- Romney: 149, Obama: 127.

9:21 pm: Electoral vote count is varying considerably, depending on the news agency. CBS: Obama, 143 Romney, 153  New York Times: Obama, 110 Romney, 154. What do you think is going to happen? Log in and comment below!

9:26 pm: Despite Obama’s initial lead in FL (29 electoral votes), Romney now SEEMS to be crawling on top.

9:28 pm: The balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives is now mostly Republican. See this image updated here.

 

9:33 pm: NJ residents displaced by Hurricane Sandy have their voting deadline extended until this Friday.

9:42 pm: The first female senator elected from Massachusetts!  Elizabeth Warren defeats Scott Brown. There is also a party change here: Democrats take the seat.

9:57 pm: Check out the demographics of voters by age, gender, and size of location calculated thus far. Looks like younger voters are getting out to vote and have a voice more than senior citizens! See this image updated here.

To see complete demographics of how the nation voted, click here.

10:07 pm: Obama and Romney are tied for electoral votes on MSNBC at 162 votes.

10:13 pm: Looking at results county by county in the battleground states. Try it for yourself here.

10:27 pm: Just read on Facebook [from an Obama supporter]: “Once you go black, you never go back.”

10:33 pm: Just read on Facebook [from a Romney supporter]: “I’m with Mitt.”

10:43 pm: According to the NY Times website, it is likely that Obama will win the election IF he wins FL.

10:48 pm: Paul Adams, BBC correspondent, tweeted, “Romney’s share of Hispanic vote lower than McCain in 2008. GOP will have to address this to stay relevant.”

10:49 pm: Romney is projected to win the electoral vote in Missouri, according to NBC.

10:50 pm: Wow. Unbelievable number of “I’m voting for Regina George because she got hit by a bus” comments on Facebook. Pop culture + politics = Poplicultics? We’ll work on that.

11:07 pm: Obama is currently leading with 238 electoral votes against Romney’s 191.

11:11 pm: Make a wish.

11:20 pm: OBAMA HAS BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Obama took the electoral vote at this time with 274 votes, but lost the popular vote: 39,572,784 votes for Obama, 40,608,558 votes for Romney.

11:22 pm: Twist and Shout being played at Obama’s Chicago Headquarters in celebration

11:23 pm: Concerning… The NY Times still hasn’t realized that Obama won. They have a current tally of Obama with 248 electoral votes and Romney with 189 electoral votes.

11:24 pm: NBC says over $6 billion spent on both campaigns total…was this money put to good use? Our national debt is a 14 digit figure…

11:28 pm: Our Presidential incumbent and now President once more won Ohio, the state of the hour!

11:36 pm: For a New York newspaper, NY Times sure is taking a while to get hip…You can’t have 250 electoral votes and be President, silly!

11:38 pm: Expected witty Facebook statuses have commenced: “Did something just happen?”

11:45 pm: Updated popular vote numbers: 44,969,852 votes for Obama and 45,179,124 votes for Romney.

11:48 pm: Madness outside of the White House! “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

11:51 pm: Interesting analysis of Obama’s win already out.

11:57 pm: Some more funny tweets and Facebook statuses arise…

  • “4 for you Obama! You go Obama! And none for Mitt Romney… bye”
  • “I saw Mitt Romney wearing army pants and flip flops, so I bought army pants and flip flops”
  • “Every college student that voted for Obama should have to take 1 point out of their GPA and redistribute it to a less fortunate student”
  • “My uterus feels empowered #election2012”
  • “If it ain’t Barack, don’t fix it!”
  • “I still think Tameka Farrell should have won and become president”

12:13 am: History was made yet again with the senate! Wisconsin Democratic Representative Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay U.S. Senator!

12:30 am: 1,153,167 likes on a photo uploaded about an hour ago onto Barack Obama’s official Facebook page captioned “Four more years”.

1:58 am: Obama delivering his victory speech at his Chicago Headquarters- passionate, patriotic, and uplifting, “I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggest…we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states…we live in the greatest nation on Earth…God bless you, United States!”

External Resources:

Electoral Prediction Map courtesy of The Washington Post (drag mouse left and right to view full width):

Also take a look at the live blogs from The New York Times and CNN.

Categories: Current Events Tags: , , , , , , ,

42 Replies to “The Election 2012”

    1. It was certainly emphasized in the media how voter turnout would be the deciding factor in the election. There seems to have been a reverse psychology effect 🙂

  4. My polling place at St. Stephen’s of Hungary was wild this morning at 7:15, so my husband and I returned today at 5:30. Still full but manageable, and we voted.

  5. First off, this coverage is incredible; your online map is clear and, frankly, really cool. Right now, it is such a toss up; Dr. Burgess, I am also at the edge of my seat… this is incredibly thrilling! If the results do not come out tonight, I will not be able to sleep!!

  6. I know! So many states are so close…we may have to wait days, and I worry about what such instability may mean, especially in wake of the hurrican

  8. I’m really glad they are extending voting deadlines for people in NJ and making an effort to ensure people have the chance to vote no matter the circumstances.

    1. I’m supportive of that decision, too. But I’ve heard that it falls to the emails and faxes of the voters; is that not susceptible to fraud?

  9. I wonder how the security of voter identification works too, just like Nicki. I love the id of email and fax voting as I think it will increase voter participation overall, but I do wonder about accessibility and verification. Fascinating how a crisis forces us to try the unknown.

  11. Congratulations to the Hewitt Times on your great coverage! It’s great to see such organized results coming in from the Hewitt community in the midst of all this excitement (and anxiety)
    Fingers crossed the country makes the right decision!

  12. Outstanding reporting! I am very impressed by your coverage – keep up the good work, girls! The next hour is going to be very exciting. Looking forward to your updates!

  14. Congratulations to the Times staff – great, clear, and exciting coverage! This is one is so close; we will all be very tired tomorrow morning, I suspect! I keep waiting for Florida, recalling the 2000 election and delay all too well.

  15. You guys are doing a fabulous job at reporting! Watching the race for presidency and the Senate has me at the edge of my seat. I was listening to the news this afternoon and they were talking about the fact that the winner might not even be announced tonight!

  16. Ms. Weber cannot log in but adds …

    A record number of women are running for Congress this year. 181 women are on the ballot: 163 nominated by their parties for the House of Representatives and 18 women for the Senate. When Senator Klobuchar visited last year, she spoke about the need for more women in office and especially in the Senate where she is one of 17 female Senators. Last year women held 90 seats our of 535 in Congress which is a mere 16.8%.

  18. This is so well-done! I love how you’re saying what happened when, so I can see what I missed for specific times between intervals of homework. I’m so happy to see how many women are winning!

  19. How can the Republicans keep using the old strategy of trying to just hold the old South and the Rocky Mountain States? As the nation moves to more urban, multicultural, and progressive in their cultural views, how can the GOP think they can hold any national offices? Who will vote for them? The days of Mad Men in dark suits and pliant wives in woody wagons in over. Times they are a changing.

  20. FYI–

    Private & silent ballots were cast in all four history 7 classes today. Here are the results:

    Mitt Romney: 26

    Barack Obama: 20

    Is there something we should infer from this?

  21. I just want to say I am REALLY impressed with this live coverage. The time the Hewitt Times staffers are taking to do this is admirable. I am currently trying to multitask doing homework and watching…so intense! What are everyone’s opinions on the coverage on TV?

  23. Today, there are many Representatives and Senators being elected. Indeed, the US Constitution provides for a balanced national government with a strong legislative branch– the Congress. Which Congress do you think was the best? (Google ’em)

    a) 73rd

    b) 38th (my pick)

    c) 1st

    d) 63rd

    e) 89th

    1. Governor Romney turned his back on his Patriot state roots. He turned on reproductive rights, gay rights, social welfare, and universal healthcare. Romney was a carpet-bagger candidate. He is really from the Wasatch Mountains.

  28. According to CNN, just now, Obama took the electoral vote (and so is now president) with 274 votes, but lost the popular vote: 39,572,784 votes for Obama, 40,608,558 votes for Romney.

  29. Thanks to all of you for your participation in this blog. We are so excited to have engendered such an informed and extensive discussion, and we look forward to hearing more reactions from the Hewitt community as the week progresses. Please continue to comment and share any information/opinions/experiences you might have.

  30. I just listened to Romney concede. Thank goodness there weren’t any challenges to the votes or requests for recounts. Thanks for this coverage, Hewitt students. You did a great job.

Leave a Reply