Information Security & US & Life & Love & Fashion & Hacking & Passion

Jennifer Shelton of Catonsville, Maryland, said she had to wait almost 40 minutes to vote Tuesday.

1 of 3

more photos »

"We had a great ride. We had a great experience. It's full of memories that we will always treasure," he said aboard his election plane.

He and Sen. Barack Obama were both expected to be watching the results come in from their home states.

The first polls closed at 6 p.m. ET in parts of Indiana and Kentucky.

CNN does not project a winner in any state until all polls have closed in that state.

At 7 p.m. ET, all polls will be closed in Georgia, Indiana and Virginia, three states where McCain and Obama are in a close race.

All polls close in Ohio and North Carolina close by 7:30 p.m.

No Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio.

McCain has been campaigning hard in Pennsylvania, a state that voted for the Democratic candidate in the past two presidential elections.

Polls there will be closed by 8 p.m., as will polls in Florida, another key battleground.

The first exit polls out Tuesday reflect what voters have said all along: The economy is by far the top issue on their minds. Watch more on the top issues »

Sixty-two percent of voters said the economy was the most important issue. Iraq was the most important for 10 percent, and terrorism and health care were each the top issue for 9 percent of voters.

Election Night in America

Watch history unfold with CNN and the best political team on television.
Tonight, beginning 7 ET

Election Center »

The economy has dominated the last leg of the campaign trail as Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have tried to convince voters that they are the best candidate to handle the financial crisis.

Voters expressed excitement and pride in their country after casting their ballots Tuesday in what has proved to be a historic election.

When the ballots are counted, the United States will have elected either its first African-American president or its oldest first-term president and first female vice president.

Besides choosing between McCain and Obama -- or a third-party candidate -- voters were making choices in a number of key House and Senate races that could determine whether the Democrats strengthen their hold on Congress.

Poll workers reported high turnout across many parts of the country, and some voters waited hours to cast their ballots.

Reports of minor problems and delays in opening polls began surfacing early Tuesday, shortly after polls opened on the East Coast.

Among them: Palm Beach, Florida, reported minor sporadic voter machine failures, and wet voters in rainy Chesapeake, Virginia, were being asked to dry off before voting because they were getting their optical-scan ballots wet, according to election officials in those locales.

CNN is asking people to call its Voter Hotline at 1-877-GO-CNN-08 (1-877-462-6608) if they witness any problems or irregularities. Read about election problems

But many said the chance to vote was worth the wait.

"It feels great to be an American today. The best hour and a half of my life," exclaimed Jude Elliot, an eighth-grade social studies teacher in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Elliot, who has been voting in Orangeburg since 1998, said it usually takes him five minutes to vote, but on Tuesday it took about 90 -- and he arrived at 6:45 a.m.

"Polling station was packed: young, old, black, white, disabled, not," he said. "It was amazing."

Rick Garcia's motivation for voting was more personal. His brother was killed August 1 by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan while he served in the Army.

"It's the main reason why I came to vote: in his honor," said Garcia, of West Palm Beach, Florida. "He would have wanted everybody as American citizens to do it." Watch a voter explain how he's honoring his brother »

For many voters, Election Day began well before dawn.

Ronnie Senique, a math teacher from Landover, Maryland, said he got up early and was the first one at the polls when he arrived at 4:10 a.m., almost three hours before the polls opened.

By the time he left, "the lines were around the corner. They snaked around the school. They went into the street," Senique said.

Tuesday was Senique's first time to vote in a U.S. presidential race. Senique, who is from the Bahamas, became a U.S. citizen about three years ago.

High turnout was not necessarily a theme at every polling station around the country. iReport.com: Share your Election Day experience

"I was there at 10 in the morning, and I jokingly said the [entire] line was my wife -- and that's only because I let her through the door first ," said Nathan Grebowiec, a 27-year-old resident of Plainville, Kansas.

The presidential candidates both voted early in the day before heading out to the campaign trail one last time. Watch Obama family at polls »

iReporter Lindsey Miller, 23, votes at the same polling place as Obama. She said Secret Service agents were checking names off a list and using metal-detecting wands on some would-be voters as they entered the polling place. The line was around the block at 6 a.m., she said.

"A lot of people were in pajamas. I know I was; not the time you want to be on national TV," the University of Chicago graduate student said. Read what Obama is up to Tuesday

Tuesday also marked the end of the longest presidential campaign season in U.S. history -- 21 months -- and both candidates took the opportunity to make their final pitch to voters.

As McCain and Obama emerged from their parties' conventions, the race was essentially a toss-up, with McCain campaigning on his experience and Obama on the promise of change. But the race was altered by the financial crisis that hit Wall Street in September. Watch how this election is history in the making »

Obama began to pull away in the polls nationally as well as in key battleground states. A CNN poll of polls calculated Tuesday showed Obama leading McCain 52 percent to 44 percent, with 4 percent undecided.

Obama also opened a lead in the race for electoral votes. As of Monday, CNN estimated that Obama would win 291 electoral votes and McCain would win 157, with 90 electoral votes up for grabs. To win the presidency, 270 electoral votes are needed.

Although most of the attention has been focused on the presidential race, the outcome of congressional elections across the country will determine whether the Democrats increase their clout on Capitol Hill.

Few predict that the Democrats are in danger of losing their control of either the House or the Senate, but all eyes will be on nearly a dozen close Senate races that are key to whether the Democrats get 60 seats in the Senate.

With 60 votes, Democrats could end any Republican filibusters or other legislative moves to block legislation.

Many political observers also predict that the Democrats could expand their majority in the House.

Voters will also weigh in on a number of ballot initiatives across the country, many of them focused on social issues like abortion and affirmative action. Check out the hot-button issues on the ballot

E-mail to a friend

Share this on:

Mixx Digg Facebook del.icio.us reddit StumbleUpon MySpace

| Mixx it | Share

World markets pushed higher Tuesday as America went to the polls and a leading U.S. investment bank told its clients in Europe to buy stocks after the savaging they have taken in the last few weeks.

The Dow Jones index of leading U.S. shares was 203.66 points or 2.2 percent, higher at 9,523.49 even though analysts generally do not believe that one candidate will boost the beaten down market more than the other.

Britain's FTSE 100 index was 116.49 points, or 2.6 percent, higher at 4,559.77, while Germany's DAX was up 133.68 points, or 2.7 percent, at 5,160.52. France's CAC-40 was 92.30 points, or 2.6 percent, higher at 3,620.27.

Most Asian stock indexes were more or less flat, apart from Japan's Nikkei, which surged 537.62 points, or 6.3 percent, at 9,114.60 as the market played catch-up after being closed Monday, when most of Asia rose.

The U.S. presidential election is dominating sentiment in U.S. markets during Tuesday having been an afterthought for much of the last few weeks during the financial crisis.

Opinion polls on the eve of the vote showed that Democratic candidate Senator Barack Obama was leading Republican rival Senator John McCain, and that the Democrats could be on course to take a firmer grip on Congress.

"This election may have attracted a lot of attention in the media, but appears to have the lowest impact on financial markets of any election for many decades, doubtless a recognition that whoever is president, he will inherit a $1 trillion budget deficit and a banking system that has all but failed," said Marc Ostwald, an analyst at Monument Securities.

"Welcome to your worst nightmare, Mr. President," he added.

Also helping European stocks was a note from Morgan Stanley recommending European investors to buy stocks and has reversed its "full house sell signal" of June 2007 to a "full house buy signal". It had been one of the first major investment banks to look for the stock market exit door last year.

European shares have also been boosted by the ongoing decline in interbank lending rates ahead of expected interest rate reductions Thursday from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

Both banks are expected to follow the U.S. Federal Reserve's lead and cut interest rates by at least half a percentage point, though there's growing talk that the Bank of England may reduce interest rates by as much as a full percentage point for the first time since four cuts of that size in 1992-3 when Britain's economy was last mired in recession.

Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of research at Charles Stanley, said Britain's FTSE in particular is rallying as it "gears up for a big cut" by the Bank of England, but added that it will likely peter out soon after the decision as the focus returns on fundamental economic data.

"We are heading into a deep recession and widespread earnings disappointment," he said.

Earlier, Australia's financial stocks improved after the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed rates for the third time in as many months, reducing its cash rate by a larger than anticipated 0.75 percentage points to 5.25 percent. That helped the S&P/ASX 200 index pare earlier losses to close largely flat.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3 percent to 14,384.34 after fluctuating through the day, with bank shares up as lending conditions eased further.

South Korea's Kospi rose 2.2 percent, while benchmarks in Singapore and Shanghai fell.

In mainland China, the market dropped for a third day, led by mining and metals stocks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.8 percent to 1,706.7. Losers included China Shenhua Energy Ltd., the country's biggest coal producer, and Kailuan Clean Coal Ltd.

Oil prices rose, with light, sweet crude for December delivery declining $3.01 to $66.92 a barrel in European trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The dollar rose 0.4 percent to 99.51 yen, but the euro was 1.9 percent higher at $1.2878.

The survey highlights the challenges facing McCain and the GOP during the final stretch of the election, as Obama has made evident progress in the Old Dominion the past month.

By wide margins, Virginia voters think that Obama is the candidate who would do more to bring needed change to Washington, who understands the economic challenges people are facing and who is the more honest and trustworthy of the two rivals. Still, there remains widespread apprehension over whether the Democratic nominee would make a good commander in chief.

McCain's path to the White House is very difficult without Virginia's 13 electoral votes, and Obama now leads the senator from Arizona 52 percent to 44 percent in the new poll.

In a Washington Post-ABC News Virginia poll taken late last month, Obama clung to a slim 3 percentage-point edge among likely voters. As an example of the gains he has made since that poll, Obama is now tied with McCain among college-educated white men, overcoming what had been an almost 30-point deficit for the Democrat.

A Democratic presidential nominee has not carried the state since 1964, but Obama has amassed what Virginia Democrats see as the most comprehensive political organization in modern times for a statewide campaign.

Obama has opened almost 50 offices, dispatched more than 250 paid staffers and recruited thousands of volunteers to knock on doors and call voters across the state.

The poll indicates that Obama's staff and volunteers have made staggering gains in reaching out to Virginia's 5 million registered voters. More than half of all voters surveyed said they have been contacted in person, on the phone or by e-mail or text message about voting for Obama, far more than said so about McCain.

Obama's ground game is being supplemented with a highly energized base of supporters who could give him an advantage in the important get-out-the vote effort.

Seven in 10 Obama supporters said they are "very enthusiastic" about voting for him, an increase from the late September poll. By contrast, 39 percent are that keen on McCain's candidacy, a 6 percentage-point dip over that period.

Obama has an almost 2 to 1 advantage over McCain in Northern Virginia, surpassing even the 60 percent mark that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) racked up in the region during their successful campaigns in 2005 and 2006.

Obama is also performing far better elsewhere in Virginia than Democrats have done in recent state and federal elections. He and McCain each drew 48 percent of the vote outside Northern Virginia, a signal that Obama's repeated visits, as well as his multimillion-dollar advertising blitz, has softened the GOP base in the more rural parts of the state.

Just 9 percent of those surveyed rated the economy as good or excellent, the first time that number has been in single digits since the days just before the 1992 election. Just 14 percent said the country is heading in the right direction, equaling the record low on that question in polls dating back to 1973.

More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support. The poll found that, among likely voters, Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. Two weeks ago, in the days immediately following the Republican National Convention, the race was essentially even, with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 47 percent.

As a point of comparison, neither of the last two Democratic nominees -- John F. Kerry in 2004 or Al Gore in 2000 -- recorded support above 50 percent in a pre-election poll by the Post and ABC News.

Last week's near-meltdown in the financial markets and the subsequent debate in Washington over a proposed government bailout of troubled financial institutions have made the economy even more important in the minds of voters. Fully 50 percent called the economy and jobs the single most important issue that will determine their vote, up from 37 percent two weeks ago. In contrast, just 9 percent cited the Iraq war as their most important issue, its lowest of the campaign.

But voters are cool toward the administration's initial efforts to deal with the current crisis. Forty-seven percent said they approve of the steps taken by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to stabilize the financial markets, while 42 percent said they disapprove.

Anxiety about the economic situation is widespread. Just over half of the poll respondents -- 52 percent -- believe the economy has moved into a serious long-term decline. Eight in 10 are concerned about the overall direction of the economy, nearly three-quarters worry about the shocks to the stock market, and six in 10 are apprehensive about their own family finances.

Two weeks ago, McCain held a substantial advantage among white voters, including newfound strength with white women. In the face of bad economic news, the two candidates now run about evenly among white women, and Obama has narrowed the overall gap among white voters to five percentage points.

Much of the movement has come among college-educated whites. Whites without college degrees favor McCain by 17 points, while those with college degrees support Obama by 9 points. No Democrat has carried white, college-educated voters in presidential elections dating back to 1980, but they were a key part of Obama's coalition in the primaries.

The political climate is rapidly changing along with the twists and turns on Wall Street, and it remains unclear whether recent shifts in public opinion will fundamentally alter the highly competitive battle between McCain and Obama. About two in 10 voters are either undecided or remain "movable" and open to veering to another candidate. Nevertheless, the close relationship between voters' focus on the economy and their overall support for the Democratic nominee has boosted Obama.

Among white voters, economic anxiety translates into greater support for Obama. He is favored by 54 percent of whites who said they are concerned about the direction of the economy, but by just 10 percent of those who are less worried.

The survey also found that the strong initial public reaction to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate, has cooled somewhat. Overall, her unfavorable rating has gone up by 10 points in the past two weeks, from 28 percent to 38 percent.