Updated Late Afternoon Numbers
Mucho flattering to Kerry; plus Nader makes an appearance.
By Jack Shafer
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004, at 4:28 PM PT

Florida
Kerry 51
Bush 49

Ohio
Kerry 51
Bush 49

Washington > Election 2004 > With Echoes of 2000 Vote, Ohio Count Is at Issue” href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/04electcnd.html?ei=5094&en=ba992171a995deaf&hp=&ex=1099544400&partner=homepage?hp&pagewanted=all&position=”>The New York Times > Washington > Election 2004 > With Echoes of 2000 Vote, Ohio Count Is at Issue

One in seven people who voted yesterday did not participate in the 2000 election, and 60 percent of those voters said they supported Mr. Kerry, according to surveys of voters leaving the polls. A survey of voters leaving the polls suggested that the turnout was at least partly inspired by anger among Democrats lingering from Mr. Bush’s disputed victory in 2000.

WTNH.com – Bush wins second term as Kerry phones to concede

Nationwide, with 98 percent of the precincts reporting, 112 million people had voted — up from 105 million in 2000. Bush was ahead in the popular vote, which he lost in 2000, and independent Ralph Nader was proving to be much less of a factor this year than four years ago.

So, at least 7 million more people voted yesterday than 4 years ago. Say 4 million evangelicals jumped to Rove’s call. Three million or more are left — and yet, supposedly, new voters and young voters didn’t “turn out as expected”? Seven million more voters plus those who voted for Nader in 2000, plus moderate Repulicans who are embarrassed by Bush. And, still, everything went Bush’s way. What a lucky Devil! mjh

20 Crucial Electoral Votes May Be Stuck in Limbo (washingtonpost.com)

To complicate matters further, some voters in the state were still casting ballots as late as 2:30 a.m. today because of long lines at the polls. Nearly three-quarters of the state’s registered voters cast ballots.

In central Ohio, voters primarily from Kenyon College in Knox County waited for more than eight hours at a polling place that had not prepared for an onslaught of newly registered voters.

Diebold Voting Machine Owner Committed To Give Votes To Bush in 2004 August 28, 2003

The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”