10:02 PM: According to Oregon Live, Oregon voters have passed Measure 79, which prohibits real estate transfer taxes, fees, other assessments, except those operative on December 31, 2009.

9:52 PM: Democrat Peter DeFazio has won re-election for Oregon's 4th Congressional District, according to Oregon Live.

9:46 PM: Measures 82 and 83, which would've allowed non-tribal commercial gambling and the building of The Grange were soundly defeated, according to Oregon Live.

72 percent of Oregonians voted "No" on 82 and 71 percent voted "No" on 83.

In other ballot measure news, Oregonians passed Measure 85, which allocates the corporate income/excise tax "kicker" refund to additionally fund K-12 puiblic education.

Multnomah County Measure 26-143 has passed. The measure forms a library district with a permanent rate to fund library services.

9:30: Oregon Live is reporting that Democrat Kate Brown has been re-elected as Secretary of State.

In addition, Democrats Ted Wheeler and Ellen Rosenblum have been re-elected as State Treasurer and Attorney General, respectively.

Also, Democrat Brad Avakian has been elected Labor Commissioner.

9:20: According to the Seattle Times, Washington voters have passed Initiative 502, which legalizes the recreational use of marijuana.

8:57 PM: According to Oregon Live, Oregonians have voted "No" on Measure 84, which would've phased out the inheritance tax on large estates.

8:49: Oregon Live is reporting that Measure 80, the bill to legalize cultivation of hemp and recreational marijuana use, is losing with 55 percent voting "No" and 60 percent of the votes counted.

8:44 PM: The Huffington Post is reporting that Colorado has passed Amendment 64, legalizing recreational marijuana use.

8:33 PM: According to Oregon Live, Charlie Hales has officially defeated Jefferson Smith in the Mayor's race and Suzanne Bonamici has defeated Delinda Morgan and won re-election for the state's 1st Congressional District.

8:20 PM: CNN has just declared that President Barack Obama has won the 2012 Election.

8:12 PM: Oregon Live is projecting that Portland has passed Portland School District Measure 26-144, otherwise known as the Portland Public Schools bond.

8:07 PM: The latest Huffington Post poll numbers have Obama leading Romney 244-203 in electoral votes.

7:41 PM: NBC News is reporting that Massachusetts has approved a bill to legalize medical marijuana.

Arkansas and Montana are also considering medical marijuana measures.

Full legalization is on the table in Colorado, Washington and here in Oregon.

Books like the "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander have framed drug prohibition as a race issue by pointing to the differences in how Black and white drug offenders are treated by the criminal justice system. Statistically speaking, drug use is uniform across all racial lines, yet the majority of those being incarcerated for it are Black and Brown.

7:24 PM: The Associated Press is reporting that Republican Richard Mourdock has lost his U.S. Senate race with Democrat Joe Donnelly.

Mourdock gained national attention after making controversial comments, referring to a child born from rape as "God's will".

Fox News has also reported that Republican Todd Akin has lost his Senate bid to Democrat Claire McCaskill. Akin also came under fire for controversial comments about "legitimate rape".

7:10 PM: The Huffington Post is reporting that Democrats have now gained four seats in the Senate, bringing their total to 46. Republicans have 41 Senate seats. There are still 13 seats up for grabs.

6:58 PM: According to KTVZ, six in ten Oregon voters saw the economy as the top issue facing the nation.

The findings also revealed that six in ten Oregon voters think jobs are a higher priority than the environment and the state is divided over the Affordable Care Act.

To read the rest of the findings, go here.

Interestingly enough, issues like equity for people of color in the workforce and the rise of the prison industrial complex have yet to make an appearance in the vast majority of these polls and mainstream political discussion. Strange how that happens...

6:47 PM: According to the Huffington Post's latest numbers, Republicans have now gained 91 House seats while Democrats are now at 47. There are still 297 seats up for grabs.

CNN is projecting that Republicans will retain the House.

6:13 PM: According to CNN, the latest returns have Romney leading Obama with 152 electoral college votes to the President's 123.

5:41 PM: KGW is reporting that Oregon Voter turnout has reached 70 percent as of 5 p.m. Read more here.

5:35 PM: The Huffington Post is reporting that out of the 25 Senate seats up for grab, so far Democrats have added two while Republicans have lost two. There are also 373 House seats up for grabs. Democrats have won 16 seats while Republicans have won 46 so far.

5:14 PM: Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown has released a statement on the status of the Clackamas County ballot fraud investigation.

According to the statement, "To date, Clackamas County, under supervision of my elections monitors, has identified six ballots that were potentially altered by the accused temporary county elections employee.   The total number of ballots potentially affected is still under investigation by the Department of Justice.

"For all potentially altered ballots, Clackamas County elections officials will determine whether or not the original voter intent can be established.  If the original voter intent can be established, the ballot will be counted to reflect what the original voter marked.
 
"Voter intent will be determined by Clackamas County officials, but will be overseen by my two elections monitors, Brenda Bayes and Fred Neal who bring a combined 30 years of election experience."

Deanna Swenson, 55, is accused of filling in Republican names on ballots where no choices were filled in. Ballot tampering is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $125,000 fine.

5:03 PM: According to CNN's latest polls, President Obama has secured 64 electoral votes to Mitt Romney's 40. Romney, however, has 51 percent of the popular vote compared to 48 percent of Obama.

4:00 PM: While many in the hip-hop community have thrown their support behind President Obama, Shyne has come out, saying we should give Mitt Romney a shot.

The former Bad Boy rapper told AllHipHop News, "To me he's a great talker. He's all rhetoric, articulate and a great orator. But where I'm from talk don't mean nothing ..Shyne can't get a second chance..Obama can't get a second. I don't get a second chance right? I made one mistake and I'm paying for it 15 years later."



3:22 PM: The Root compiled a sampling of some of the most troubling tweets of the day. It's not a surprise that a heated election and tough economic times have brought out the worst in some people, but the comments still make you wonder what people were thinking when they declared it a "post-racial" America after Obama's 2008 election.

Also, check out the Huffington Post's slideshow of the most racist moments of Presidential Election 2012.

2:55 PM: Journalist and hip-hop activist Davey D spoke with Barbara Arwine from the Lawyers Committee of Civil Rights on the pervasiveness of voter suppression efforts throughout the country and what people can do to protect the integrity of their vote. Check out the interview here.

2:42 PM: The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Tea Party backed group True the Vote, has been barred from Ohio polling stations.

True the Vote has come under fire for alleged voter intimidation, specifically targeting minority voters.

Now the group may be investigated for falsifying documents. To read more, go here.

2:20 PM: A video has come out of Pennsylvania making some pretty alarming claims about the voter booths.

According to the video's description:

"I initially selected Obama but Romney was highlighted. I assumed it was being picky so I deselected Romney and tried Obama again, this time more carefully, and still got Romney. Being a software developer, I immediately went into troubleshoot mode. I first thought the calibration was off and tried selecting Jill Stein to actually highlight Obama. Nope. Jill Stein was selected just fine. Next I deselected her and started at the top of Romney's name and started tapping very closely together to find the 'active areas'. From the top of Romney's button down to the bottom of the black checkbox beside Obama's name was all active for Romney. From the bottom of that same checkbox to the bottom of the Obama button (basically a small white sliver) is what let me choose Obama. Stein's button was fine. All other buttons worked fine."



Are we in for a repeat of Ohio in 2004 and Florida in 2000? What do you think?