Good morning! Californians woke up to the passage of Gov. Brown’s Prop. 30, which raises taxes to fund education. Passing with 53.9 percent of the vote, the proposition means that California won’t face automatic $6 billion in trigger cuts.
Voters also rejected proposition 37, which would have required the labeling of GMOs in food, with a 53.1 percent no vote. The New York Times’ Andrew Revkin writes on Tumblr “I’m glad the sloppy, unscientific, protectionist initiative failed, but glad discussion on transparency in food sourcing is initiated.”
Proposition 34, which would have repealed the death penalty, failed with with 52.7 percent voting no. The results of all 11 ballot propositions are here.
The heated contest between Democrats Brad Sherman and Howard Berman ended with Sherman winning with 60.5 percent.
Angelenos couldn’t stop talking about Measure B, which will require adult film actors to wear condoms. That one passed. Measure J passed too; that ensures a 30-year extension of the half-cent sales tax increase for transportation projects.
12: 00 a.m.:
We’re wrapping up here. You can find results here as they come in. But in the mean time, there are reports that fog has grounded helicopters that were carrying ballots. The Mercury News reports:
Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan says the helicopters have been diverted to the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry, instead of their Norwalk offices. From there they’ll be moved by ground transportation.
So blame the fog for the uncertainty as we all go to sleep. We’ll have coverage on 89.9 FM starting when you wake up.
11:51 p.m.:
Here’s the rundown so far:
Prop. 31 Governance reform NO
Prop. 35 Human trafficking YES
Prop 36 Three Strikes YES
Prop 38 Molly Munger’s tax initiative for CA schools NO
Prop. 39 Closes tax braek loophole for multistate business YES
Prop. 40 Upholds Senate redistricting YES
Measure A Appointing LA County assessor failed
11:39 p.m:
We still don’t have results for Prop. 37, which would require the labeling of GMOs; it’s currently down with 55 percent NO votes and 45 percent YES. That’s with 45.8 reporting.
Still tracking Prop. 30 as it edges into a narrow lead. UC Berkeley’s @dailycal Tweets: @dailycal #Prop30 now winning by almost 200,000 votes. Over 50 percent of precincts still need to report in results.
11:05 p.m.:
Prop. 30 takes a narrow lead. @kyamamura Tweets: #Prop30 flips: 50.1% yes, 49.9% no.
10:51 p.m:
Prop 36 passes, revising California’s Three Strikes law with 68.1 percent voting YES.
KCRW talks to former Gov. Gray Davis as he reacts to Obama’s re-election and talks about the Propositions, including Prop. 30. “I gotta give Jerry Brown a lot of credit, he worked his tail off.”
10:27 p.m.:
President Obama: The union “moves forward because of you… we are an American family and we rise and fall together as one nation.”
Below, photos from the Jackie Lacey event at Union Station. Here’s what she said to KCRW:
Reporter Raghu Manavalan sends this picture of Macy Gray performing at a Jackie Lacey event at Union Station Lacey is leading in the polls 56 percent by 44 percent.
10:17 p.m.:
Molly Munger’s Proposition 38 has not passed. AP reports NO on 38 by 74.4 percent.
Prop 30 is still trailing with a 51.5 percent no vote.
Prop 40 has passed with 74.2 percent.
10:o5 p.m.:
Romney’s short and gracious concession speech: “I ran for office because I’m concerned for America,” and added, “Like so many of you, Paul and I have left everything on the field. We have given our all to this campaign.”
9:50 p.m.:
Romney concedes to Obama in a phone call.
9:35 p.m.:
Dan Schnur talks to Steve Chiotakis about what to expect from Obama’s second term. He says, “a newly elected or a newly reelected prsident usually has a store of political capital, a honeymoon if you will in which their in a better position to get things done.”
9:26 p.m.:
Proposition 35 on human trafficking has passed
California’s senior senator, Feinstein is expected to gain more clout in the next Congress, moving up in seniority as a result of Senate retirements.
8:50 p.m.Reporter Jody Becker sends these shots from the Democratic party’s party at Dodger Stadium, where the crowd was “ebullient. ”
8:35 p.m.:
Jackie Lacey is leading Jackson for DA, 56 to 44 percent according to early returns.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, has taken an early lead over fellow Rep. Howard Berman, D-Valley Village, in the newly drawn 30th Congressional District in the San Fernando Valley according to early vote tallies.
In the South Bay, Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, has taken early lead over Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach, in the 44th district
8:29 p.m.:
KCRW’s Lisa Napoli reports from Downtown LA’s Grand Park. “It feels like four years ago in this crowd,” she says of the excitement.
8:19 p.m.:
Fox and CNN and NBC call it. Barack Obama re-elected.
8:07 p.m:
Barack Obama is projected to win California, NPR projects.
8:00 p.m.:
Polls are closed here in California, but if you’re in line you can still vote.
7:59 p.m.:
Minutes before the polls close, Dean Logan LA County Registrar tells KCRW that there haven’t been any widespread problems.
KCRW’s Matt Holzman reported from a polling place that is home to hipsters and Hasidic Jews.
@AllegraCeline Tweets: @kcrw offering some sartorial color commentary on similarities between hipsters + chasidic Jews @ La Brea polling place. #naturally
7:00 p.m:
CNN calls Utah for Romney.
California polls are still open. Remember as long as you’re in line when the polls close at 8 p.m. you can still vote!
6:55 p.m.:
“@ABC News projects Obama will win Minnesota, a key swing state, taking its 10 electoral votes”
6:45 p.m.:
CBS projects New Hampshire for Obama.
Updated 6:30 p.m.:
Obama is projected to win Wisconsin by NBC.
Updated 6:20 p.m.:
NBC news is projecting that President Obama wins Pennsylvania.
While there have been no major voting issues according to KCRW producer Anna Scott ran into a problem at her polling place this morning and she wasn’t the only one. She blogs: One polling place in South L.A. opened this morning with ballots but no voting machines. Some voters waited more than an hour for machines to arrive before giving up and leaving without casting a vote.
Updated 6:00 p.m.:
Voters are reportedly still waiting in line in Virginia. Polls are still open for another two hours here in California.
Obama: New Jersey, New York, Michigan – 124 electoral votes
Romney: Kansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Nebraska – 154 electoral votes
Updated 5:00 p.m.:
We’re following NPR‘s live coverage of the presidential race.
Obama: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. – 65 electoral votes
Romney: Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi – 71 electoral votes
Updated 4:42 p.m.:
We’ve been obsessing over this website: ismittromneythepresident.com
But polls are closing across the East Coast. Here’s what we know now:
Romney: Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky
Obama: Vermont
Updated 4:30 p.m.:
Kentucky and West Virginia have been called for Mitt Romney, Obama wins Vermont.
Updated 3:45 p.m:
Polls have closed in Indiana, Kentucky and New Hampshire. But you still have time! Go vote!
We also noticed this item about stolen yard signs. “Stanton Mayor Pro-Tem David Shawver caught Alan Lowenthal Orange County District Director Stephanie Wells in the act of stealing DeLong yard signs in Stanton earlier today. A complaint has been filed with the Stanton Police Department and the theft is currently being investigated. More here.
Updated 2 p.m.:
KCRW’s special coverage is starting now. You can listen online here. KCRW’s Saul Gonzalez reports “a healthy turnout” at Southern California’s voting places. Seventy percent of California’s registered voters are expected to vote in today’s election, but the number is down from 2008. The Los Angeles Times says 1 million fewer people are expected today.
LA County Clerk Dean Logan says as of 1 p.m. “32-33 percent of voters had already cast ballots, that’s below where we were in 208, but is beginning to approach where we were in 2004.”
Updated 12 p.m.:
LA County Clerk Dean Logan tweeted that voter turnout was 27.71% as of 12 noon.
SF Gate reports that Gov. Jerry Brown has voted “Yes” on Prop. 34, which seeks to end the death penalty in California.
The L.A. Times reports that there may be delays in tallying votes on close races as more voters are expected to vote by mail than in person. More than 65 percent of primary votes were “vote by mail” ballots. These are processed by hand and come with the extra challenge of matching voter registration signatures to those on the ballot.
“We’re into accuracy, not speed, in California,” Nicole Winger, deputy communications director for Secretary of State Debra Bowen, said Tuesday. “It will be a couple of weeks for any really tight races.” – L.A. Times.
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