BART:

Matthew ...

Why is every problem with every election the Republicans fault?

BECAUSE THE RNC MAKES DIRTY TRICKS A PERMANENT PART OF THEIR STRATEGY AND THE DEMOCRATS DO NOT. IF YOU WATCHED MEET THE PRESS LAST SUNDAY A YOU SAW REPUBLICAN RESPOND TO QUESTIONS ABOUT A DISHONEST AD BY SAYING THAT IT WAS JUST POLITICS.

Is there some mass power the Republicans have that they can somehow cause every conceivable glitch,

THE PRESIDENCY,THE CONGRESS, MUCH OF THE COURTS, AND TONS OF MONEY.

and that every conceivable glitch causes a Democrat to get cheated out of a seat?

I DIDN'T SAY THAT.

Democrats were hedging their elections before the first poll ever opened on the fact that if they lose, they were cheated by the Republican conspiracy to hang some chads or break some voting machines.

THERE IS GOOD REASON TO WORRY ABOUT THE MACHINES AMONG OTHER THINGS, LIKE 10 HOUR LINES IN 2004, AND DECEPTION USED TO TRICK PEOPLE OUT OF VOTING. I DON'T ALLEGE A CONSPIRACY WITHOUT EVIDENCE. THE ELECTION IS OVER NOW, WE WON, AND I WANT JUST AS BADLY TO HAVE THE PRESS AND THE CONGRESS WORK TO INSURE FAIR ELECTIONS. I WOULD BE EQUALLY ANGRY IF YOUR VOTE WAS THE ONE THAT COULD BE LOST.

Everything that goes wrong anywhere, anytime, for any reason ... is Bush's fault?

YES. IF YOU LOOK AT THE COMMISSIONS THAT WERE FORMED TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS OF THE 2004 ELECTIONS, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE GOP WAS ONLY INTERESTED IN THEIR OWN PARISAN GAIN. NUMEROUS OTHER PROBLEMS WERE IGNORED.

That should be the new motto of Democrats. If you can't win ... whine

I DON'T CONSIDER WANTING FAIR ELECTIONS WHINING. MY FATHER WENT IN ON D-DAY TO GIVE THE FRENCH THE RIGHT TO VOTE. ALMOST 3,000 AMERICANS HAVE DIED IN IRAQ TO BRING THE IRAQIS FAIR ELECTIONS. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TOLERATE AN AMERICAN POSTING ABOUT FAIR ELECTIONS IN AMERICA WITHOUT CALLING IT WHINING. BTW, DEMS CAN WIN.

Here's a big, wet, sloppy kiss, America. SMACK

Brian I didn't watch I was to stressed and old to handle this one. Yes my friends watched. God did bless America and now we can start correcting the mistakes and bring our troops home. Yes we have alot of cleaning up to do. There will be more investigations of criminal acts and more elected officials leaving office. It has been 5 years of corruption so there's work ahead.
Americans now must keep a better watch on the government so this problem doesn't happen again. We must make sure the elected officials know they work for the people not big business or themselves.

WELL IT LOOKS LIKE THE DEMOCRATES HAVE WON. W-O-W NOW LETS SEE WHAT THEY CAN DO!! OH WAIT A MINUTE I AM SO SILLY WE STILL HAVE A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. HE CAN BE THE BLAME FOR EVERYTHING. GEE!! WHAT A RELIEF!

Brian - the coverage on MSNBC was first rate last night, kudos to you all. I also admired your restraint when you told Chris Matthews "I don't do opinion" and stuck to it despite the flurry - no blizzard - of opinion swirling around you in the midst of Olberman, Matthews, Brokaw, etc. You are indeed the right man for the job.

My 19-year-old voted for the first time, leaving his college campus in central Connecticut to drive 45 minutes to our shoreline community and back again so he could go to class. He could have blown it off as too much trouble. I'm glad he didn't.

I've been voting for over 30 years and I've never felt less sure about whether my vote would count as I did when I hit the "Vote" button on the electronic voting machine here in central Pennsylvania. Perhaps the Republicans have just made me a bit too paranoid, but I am, for the first, time, concerned that Joe Stalin was right, "It doesn't matter who votes; what matters is who counts the votes." May the best candidate win.

Thanks for keeping us up to date on the behind the scene look into the election process. I enjoy the blog and the ability to respond. Her in Los Angeles Vikki Vargas of NBC4 is the first reporter here to also have a blog.

If I hadn't already voted early this morning, Brian's comments ("There is, once the shouting is over, a great majesty to what we are about to do here.") would certain have sprung me from my seat to get out there and vote. Regardless of how 'bad'our country politics may be (and let's admit it, they're bad on both sides), it's still an honor and a privilege to be able to cast my opinion (my vote) as a citizen of the United States. Thanks to our "Founding Fathers" for the basics that we have today. The rest is up to us to ensure that their dreams and aspirations for their new country are not wasted on trivial, personal and/or greedy pursuits.

Mr. Williams, I voted today without any problems. Fortunately, my county was smart enough to start using optical scan ballots before the 2000 election. We thankfully do not suffer from issues with electronic or punch card voting. I am an evangelical christian and would be considered a member of the religious right. Today I voted for the ban on gay marriage and I also voted to bring the death penalty to Wisconsin. I normally vote straight republican. However, this time I voted all democrat on every race on my ballot. This is the first time I have ever done that since voting for Reagan (a real republican) in 1984. I am extremely angry with the republicans (for all of the obvious reasons) and this is the only way that I can show them. Rather than not voting, I decided to vote against them. I have realized through many conversations that I am not the only person who feels like this and decided to do something about it. Karl Rove and James Dobson do not control me. I think for myself and make my own decisions. The world and this country will not fall apart with the democrats controlling both houses of congress. I'm rather looking forward to King George W having a miserable final 2 years in office after all of his lies, his arrogance, and his shredding of our constitution. Shame on the republican party who let him get away with it. Hopefully they will learn their lesson from this election or I will have to vote against them in 2008. And for the record, the evangelicals will NEVER vote for Rudy G. in 2008 when they all learn that he is pro-abortion and pro-gay rights. I have NO regrets voting democratic this time around.

I also voted first thing this morning, and I am one of the many with a gripe about the new optic and touch screen voting, as well as the unwillingness of the judges to assist the voters. I used a paper ballot, and I was instructed to go to a table, where many other voters sat and fill out my ballot right there where anybody and everybody could see for whom and what I was voting. It was ridiculous!

My daughter just called me from Texas to tell me how thrilled she was to vote. It is her 4th time to vote and she was proud. It is nice to know that this year her brother (my son) will also be able to vote in person after voting last time from Iraq. I was raised watching every election coverage on NBC and have raised my children that way as well, we will all be watching you tonight, Brian--please bring us good news!!! Thanks

Andrew Sullivan recently noted that he's keeping an eye on the turnout of young voters:
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/11/one_thing_ill_b.html

I think he's on to something. There's a huge youth voter mobilization effort going on right now, and it looks like youth turnout is going to rise for the third election in a row. I'd urge you to note this trend in your election coverage.

I work with the Student PIRGs' New Voters Project, a non-partisan turnout effort targeted at young voters, and just from what I've heard about and seen on some of the campuses where we're turning out the vote, there's a huge buzz about this election and students are doing some really creative things to get their peers to the polls.

Some early indications from the field on Tuesday afternoon:

- 321 students have already voted at the polling place at the Student Union Building (precinct 21-17) at the University of Maryland College Park, in contrast to the 149 students who voted at the same location in 2002.

- 2006 voter turnout has already exceeded 2002 turnout at two University of Michigan polling places. 256 students have already voted in Precinct 4-1 as compared to 241 in 2006, and 250 students have voted in precinct 1-7 230 in 2002.

- 208 students have already voted at precinct 16-A at Ohio State University, as compared to 207 in 2002.

- The primary polling place at the University of Northern Colorado has already seen 329 voters turnout, compared to 244 in 2002.

- In Boulder, two student-heavy precincts have surpassed 2002's turnout numbers; at one precinct, turnout has doubled, from 51 voters in 2002 to 105 voters today.

- In Columbus, five youth-dense precincts near OSU have already seen more voters than in 2002.

Matthew ...

Why is every problem with every election the Republicans fault? Is there some mass power the Republicans have that they can somehow cause every conceivable glitch, and that every conceivable glitch causes a Democrat to get cheated out of a seat?

Democrats were hedging their elections before the first poll ever opened on the fact that if they lose, they were cheated by the Republican conspiracy to hang some chads or break some voting machines.

Everything that goes wrong anywhere, anytime, for any reason ... is Bush's fault? That should be the new motto of Democrats. If you can't win ... whine!

Dear Mr. Brian Williams,
I'm glad to know that you did not forget to vote today given how busy you are. :)
Good luck tonight and drink lots of coffee.
Also, I drove an hour to the poll site just to vote, because I think it is the very least I could do given the fact that there are so many soldiers putting their lives on the line to defend our freedom and help bring peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. I urge all of you to exercise your right to vote regardless of party or issue alliance.

An American Voter

Brian,
Thank you for sharing that you voted this morning. I was raised with the motto of "you can't complain if you didn't vote". Many people think that those in the media only criticize the government and its politicians. Good to know you are doing your part too by voting.

Please report the voter intimidation and dirty robocalling the GOP is engaging in. The GOP shouldn't get away with this. I don't want to hear some "both sides do it" nonsense that TV Networks make up to look fair. Its the Republicans, and they have no respect for the democracy that made our nation great.

It would also be nice that when you report all the voting machine problems that you point out the the left and the Democratic Party have been fighting for years to keep these problems from happening. All that time the GOP insisted that our biggest problem is voting fraud, and they don't have even much anecdotal evidence, let alone any evidence of a widespread pattern, that the fraud problem even exists. All these voting machine problems are the fault of the GOP who stubbornly refused to correct them.

Please fulfill your role in our democracy.