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Image: from New York TimesI'm done live blogging for the night. It is now 9:28pm PST. I will update everything one last time.
Though I am overjoyed about Kalamazoo and the hopeful victory in Washington, I can't dismiss the fact that I'm very depressed about Maine.
Those hateful numbers as of right now - 52%/48% against us. Same as Prop 8. It's like it's being rubbed in our faces.
I want to marry my fiance. I will not give up. And neither will the NO on 1 campaign. They have not conceded.
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VICTORY IN KALAMAZOO (SEE BOTTOM OF POST)!
MAINE (Update 9:28pm PST)
Yes: 248,965 votes/52.4%
No: 226,239 votes/47.69%
82% of precincts reporting
These numbers are looking oddly familiar. Prop 8 deja vu anyone? :(
* Adam Bink, "Based on what we have and what other news outlets are reporting, now over 60% of precincts are in, including a lot of more rural places, and it's looking like 51-49% against us."
Ugh.
*Results pulled from NYTimes as BDN is stalling.
*Results are expected to start coming in at 8pm EST/5pm PST. Bangor Daily News is known for the best tracking of the polls. (This will stay at the top)
* Adam Bink, "Final % in from the city of Portland itself, largest city in the state and a heavy base vote area- No 71%, Yes 29%, without absentees."
* Adam Bink reports,"I just took a look at all the final numbers in from every Portland precinct. Portland is the largest city in the state. We're winning each precinct by a touchdown or two. Portland is the uber-base of base precincts in the state, and we needed to do huge there, and we have."
*Adam Bink reports, "In Portland 5-2 precinct, our worst place in the city, the numbers are approx 1,400 No, 1,100 Yes. Very, very good."
* Adam Bink reports voters are still in lines at the polls.
*Nate Silver gives NO on 1 a 71% chance.
*Campaign manager Jesse Connolly will be doing an interview at 9:15pm EST/6:15pm PST tonight live on Rachel Maddow from the NO on 1 election night party. Governor Baldacci goes on in the 11 hour.
*NO on 1 will broadcast live their election night event on their website.
Live streaming video by Ustream
The program:
9 pm- Maine Coalition
MC- Betsy Smith, Executive Director of EqualityMaine
Mary Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director, GLAD
Shenna Bellows, Executive Director, MCLU
Myke Johnson, Anne Underwood or Marvin Ellison, Religious Coalition
9:30 pm- Elected Officials
MC: Jesse Connolly, Campaign Manager of No On 1/ Protect Maine Equality
Governor John Baldacci
U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree
Maine Senate President Libby Mitchell
Maine Speaker Hannah Pingree
10 pm- National Partners
MC: Pat Peard, No On 1/Protect Maine Equality, Executive Committee Member
Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Joe Solmonese, President, Human Rights Campaign
Robin Brand, Senior Consultant, Gill Acti)on
10:30pm- Maine Families
MC: Darlene Huntress, GOTV Direstoc, No On 1/Protect Maine Equality
Ray Dumont of Portland reads his Mom's (Yolande Dumont) letter
Bill Whitten, Yarmouth
Terry Guerette or Tamiko Davies, Portland
Jim Bishop or Steve Ryan, Bar Mills
WASHINGTON (UPDATE 9:28PM PST)
Approve: 506,93 votes / 51.1%
Reject: 484,567 votes / 48.9%
50% reporting
* Results will begin posting here at 8pm PST. This is a mail-in vote. Final results won't be posted tonight. (See statement by Approve 71 below)
*Nate Silver gives 10-1 odds against Reject Referendum 71!
*Watch Approve 71's election night event in Seattle live at 8pm PST!
Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV
*From Approve 71 campaign:
The Approve Referendum 71 campaign wants to remind you that Washington state is now an all vote- by-mail state (with the exception of a small number of voters in one of 39 of Washington’s counties). Unlike some vote by mail states where ballots must be received by Election Day, in Washington state ballots only have to be postmarked no later than Election Day (or dropped in an official ballot drop off boxes by 8:00 pm), meaning ballots are often arriving as late as a week after Election Day. We are sharing this information now because we recognize our system of voting in Washington state is unique and some may draw inaccurate conclusions based on the early returns on Election Night. Close results should not be seen as strength by the opposition or indicative of final results.
Read more information about Washington's vote process.
KALAMAZOO
ONE KALAMAZOO DECLARES VICTORY IN BALLOT FIGHT
Kalamazoo residents approve nondiscrimination ordinance
“Our campaign started with a very basic idea, and today voters confirmed that we are One Kalamazoo,” said Campaign Manager, Jon Hoadley.
With only absentee ballots outstanding, 65 percent of Kalamazoo voters have approved Ordinance 1856 by a vote of 6,463 to 3,527, adding protections for gay and transgender people to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance. This margin is larger than the number of outstanding absentee ballots that are currently being counted.
“I am elated with the outcome of the election,” says Yes on Ordinance 1856/One Kalamazoo Steering Committee member and local resident Janice Brown. “This vote reinforces what our campaign set out to prove – that our fellow residents of Kalamazoo share the belief that all people should be treated fairly and equally, including gay and transgender people.”
The outcome of today’s vote confirmed that all hardworking people in Kalamazoo should have the chance to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families without fear of being fired for reasons that have nothing to do with their job performance.
“Kalamazoo is a great place to live and the passage of Ordinance 1856 makes the city an even better place,” says local resident Rev. Matt Laney, Pastor of the First Congregational Church. “I am proud to live in a city that recognizes that all people deserve fairness and respect.”
The Yes on 1856/ One Kalamazoo campaign in support of the nondiscrimination ordinance involved hundreds of local volunteers and contributors, and had the endorsement of over 30 local religious, social, business, and political organization. The campaign would like to thank the Kalamazoo community for asserting their belief in the inherent equality of all Kalamazoo residents, and the countless volunteers for their hard work and dedication in recent months – and in some case, years – to ensure the passage of the ordinance.
*Polls close for Kalmazoo, MI at 8pm CST/6pm PST. (This will stay at the top)
So tomorrow we will be treated to lots of gloating by Schubert, Mutty, and Maggie - all crowing that "the people" have spoken. Of course, Yes on 1 worked overtime to ensure that this measure would be on this year's ballot, when turnout would be lower. If they had turned in their petitions in mid or late August, it would have suspended the marriage law and Q1 would have been voted on in 2010. They wanted fewer people to speak and they got what they wanted.
ReplyDeleteI know. Having them brag about their win and talk about how it's the morally right thing to do to not let gays and lesbians marry, that it's proof that America does NOT want marriage equality - it's almost as bad as losing my rights.
ReplyDeleteAlmost.
Thanks for all your efforts, today and every day. You'll marry your fiancee one day. Remember, we're not going to win it at the polls. But we're going to win. (Disclaimer: We're depressed too.) In solidarity.
ReplyDeleteThank you, JustMarriedUs. And thank you for all your hard work as well. Your dedication gives real meaning to "In Solidarity" for me. At this moment, it's a true comfort.
ReplyDeleteIt's a movement, not a campaign, and we will need to keep fighting.
ReplyDeleteOne of the next fights is in California next November, repealing Proposition 8. We could really use Unite the Fight's commitment to that effort.