Thurston Community Television will present LIVE local election results beginning at 8:00 PM on Tuesday, November 4th on TCTV Channels 3 and 22 and Tumwater TV Channel 26 on the Comcast Cable system in greater Thurston County.

There will be up-to-the minute results and interviews with area candidates. A special conversation with outgoing County Commissioner Diane Oberquell will start the evening’s telecast.

Tune in at 8PM for TCTV’s Election Night 2008.

"Election day" started in the United States (and its territories) earlier this afternoon. Guam is voting and has been for several hours now, so its not too soon to start an open thread.

For me, I'm most curious about the two county commission seats that are up, but I'm sure we'll find something else to talk about.

Also, I miss "I voted" stickers. They don't have them in the mail in ballots and wearing one around for several weeks is pretty dumb.

Seajane has been watching ballot processing up at the Thurston County auditors office as observer:

I received an e-mail from another PCO who said that our County Auditor was verifying by computer signature of the orignial registration card and the ballot. He questioned whether this was a tactic to throw additional ballots out. I've been observing the ballot processing and there's nothing to worry about. It is true that they are using a computer to compare the signatures but only to display a scan of the signature on the ballot to a scan of the original signature -- a trained worker actually does the comparison.

...

IMHO things are going well and it is a fair and well managed process.

Seajane is also a Democratic precinct committee officer. Here's the email she was talking about:

My son, who is 21 and a first-time voter in a Presidential election, got a letter from Kim Wyman, the Thurston County Auditor, that his ballot was rejected due to his signature not matching.

Could you tell me who is working as the voter’s rights watchdog in Washington? How can we find out if this practice is widespread?

Here's a response from another Dem PCO:

The Seventeen Traditions, by Ralph Nader

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Landscape of My Boyhood 1
1. The Tradition of Listening 33
2. The Tradition of the Family Table 39
3. The Tradition of Health 47
4. The Tradition of History 51
5. The Tradition of Scarcity 59
6. The Tradition of Sibling Equality 63
7. The Tradition of Education and Argument 69
8. The Tradition of Discipline 79
9. The Tradition of Simple Enjoyments 85
10. The Tradition of Reciprocity 93
11. The Tradition of Independent thinking 99
12. The Tradition of Charity 105
13. The Tradition of Work 111
14. The Tradition of Business 117
15. The Tradition of Patriotism 123
16. The Tradition of Solitude 129
17. The Tradition of Civics 135

Know about John McCain before the next debate!

Here are four videos describing John McCain's stances on four issues: the environment, the economy, tax cuts, and abortion. From Brave New World Productions:

McCain on the environment: drill baby drill to a green economy

McCain on Economics and Finance

McCain on Permanent Tax Cuts for the Rich (then and now)

McCain on Abortion

But the $3M shows that regular Americans like you and me do care, and do want something different. Americans deserve a real choice on corporate and foreign policies...

Nader Gonzales '08

An update from the campaign website:

Only $10,000 from $3 Million Mark

Posted by The Nader Team on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 06:06:00 PM

Greg Palast in Olympia, Washington

Richard Hayes Phillips: Witness to a Crime

How Republicans stole the 2004 presidential election in Ohio

Dr. Phillips has published a book chronicling the 2004 electoral theft of the presidential race. According to evidence that Phillips has compiled, voter fraud occurred was rampant in the precincts of many counties in the state of Ohio.

I found the story of Dr. Phillips to be compelling. I would have bought the book if I would have had 30 dollars.

Witness to a Crime

http://www.witnesstoacrime.com

description:

Filmed in Salt Lake City, UT, by Doug Monroe and Rhea Gavry

2008 Presidential candidate Ralph Nader took some time out of his travel schedule this summer to have a conversation Cardozo the Parrot, who lives with Rocky Anderson, former Mayor of Salt Lake City. In this video, you can see Ralph and Cardozo discussing the media blackout and uphill battle faced by third party candidates and independents running for President of the Unites States.

Contribute now to help us try to get Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez in the presidential debates:
www.votenader.org