Election 2006

Tonight I have the pleasure of writing about Election 2006. If things go well in my schedule I plan to post several posts as the evening continues.

This morning I voted in my precinct with no obvious problems. The turn-out was light. There was no difficulty with the optical scan ballot which I actually found more "voter-friendly" than the old punch card ballot. My good feeling was spoiled only by the electronic "ballot box" which had the name Diebold prominently displayed. However, according to my research the optical ballot is relatively more secure than the touch screen computers.

At this point, Blackwell has been defeated in the Ohio governor's race, Rick Santorum has gone down to defeat, and Katherine Harris will not advance to the Senate. In very early returns, Democrat Claire McCaskill is leading Republican James Talent.

A few so-called bell-weather U.S. House seats have gone to the Democratic candidate.

Perhaps we have seen the high-water mark of the far-right political wave in American politics. Only time will tell. I will be staying tuned.