An Ohio voter has filed suit in federal court, N.D. Ohio, charging she didn't get her absentee ballot although it was timely requested. She went to her polling place and was not given a provisional ballot or allowed to vote.

[via Fox News on tv, no link yet.]

Update: The final numbers are Bush 51, Kerry 48%. Bush, 286, Kerry 252.

Bump and Update: Today's the day. The contest will remain open until 6:00 pm ET. Get your predictions in...and your contributions if you want a prize for winning. The pot is now up to $55.00.

Update: Great roundup of blogger predictions here.

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11/1/04 3pm
Bump and Update: As promised, this thread's being bumped so you can keep making and revising your projections. As to a prize, only $5 has been turned into Paypal so far, so there may not be one. If more comes in, it will be divided between the winner(s)and me. If not, the winners have to be satisfied with a mention on TalkLeft.

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Original Post 10/31/ 7pm

The polls open in 36 hours. They close in 48. It's time to weigh in. Who will win in the popular vote? The electoral college? What will the final tally look like?

I'll start. My prediction:

Where to watch the results tonight? Almost everywhere. Here's one to bookmark now that promise one-stop shopping results in real time:

Media Matters:

Media Matters for America (MMFA) today announced a comprehensive presidential, election-night, monitoring project. Posted in real time, MMFA will note when winners are called, state-by-state, in all 50 states. The project will monitor four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS); three cable outlets (CNN, MSNBC, and FOX); and the Associated Press. The monitoring chart will list all 50 states and the corresponding time at which each network, cable outlet and wire service calls the results.

Interesting contrast between a Republican and Democrat voter in Detroit today.

Democrat Voter:

"It's a good feeling when you choose your leader, when you have a say," he says. Al-Tawil says he cast his ballot for John Kerry. [Murad Al-Tawil, 30, casts his very first ballot. Born in Iraq, he became an American citizen three years ago.]

Republican voter:

Rosemarie Russell, 27, hurries in to vote with her two children in tow. "It's my birthday today," she says. "I want to get this over with and get on with my day." She says she is voting for President Bush.

Reuters in London is reporting that a U.S. soldier has been kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents. The military has not released any details denies it yet. [Via Drudge and Raw Story]

Happy first birthday to Ari Zunigas, heir to Daily Kos and still the cutest baby ever. Here's a year in the life....

November 6, 2003: Baby Kos Joins Us at Planet Earth

Mother's Day, May 9, 2004 at Casa Kos(with Tia Jeralyn):

November 1, 2004, First Birthday

Ok,maybe the second cutest baby ever:

We will get out the vote. Wednesday night John Kerry and John Edwards will be declared the undisputed winners of the election.

Thursday morning, the news will begin referring to George Bush as "Outgoing President George W. Bush."

How sweet it is.

Last Friday, six minutes of an 18 minute tape by Osama bin Laden was played on the Al Jazeera network and broadcast around the world. Today, Al Jazeera released the remainder of the tape. You can read the U.S. translator's version or Al Jazeera's version.

Here's an interesting portion:

It's almost show time. It's also the The calm before the storm. What are your final thoughts? What do you fear most for tomorrow? Will all the hard work pay off? Will we have a new President?

Unbelievable. If I didn't see it with my own eyes.... It's gone now, of course, but thanks to Raw Story for keeping the proof.

Even if it was just a test of their page set for tomorrow, why are the numbers so slanted? And why did they go live with it today? The paper endorsed Bush for President a few weeks ago.

This weekend newspapers continued to endorse presidential candidates. The Kerry Campaign provides these final numbers:

Echoing the powerful message of more than 200 editorial boards across the country, 24 leading newspapers this weekend urged voters to elect John Kerry for president.

Two hundred twenty-nine publicationsincluding 200 daily papers with a combined circulation of more than 22 million readers have now backed John Kerry.

Forty-seven newspapers with a circulation of more than 3.6 million readers have endorsed Kerry after having backed Bush in 2000. Only six papers that supported Al Gore in 2000 have endorsed Bush this election.

Examples of papers breaking with past tradition:

The Bangor Daily News' backing of John Kerry was its first endorsement of a Democrat for president since the 19th century. The Orlando Sentinel had not done so in 40 years.

There's a new dealer in town: George W. Bush. His minions are in the battleground states, handing out money like candy in a last ditch attempt to sway voters. Examples: Ohio, Washington and Oregon:

Just before voters went to the polls, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman headed to Ohio Monday to hand out federal money that she said shows her boss "is committed to assisting small businesses in rural America."

Interior Secretary Gale Norton on Monday praised President Bush's "enthusiastic leadership" while announcing he had signed into law the new Lewis & Clark National Historical Park in Washington and Oregon - two battleground states leaning Democratic Sen. John Kerry's way.

They were the latest examples of Bush's use of his Cabinet and taxpayer-funded largess based on Congress' choices to help try to swing the election.

Just another day of using the perks of his office to sway the voters.

They were the latest examples of Bush's use of his Cabinet and taxpayer-funded largess based on Congress' choices to help try to swing the election....From spending for local schools to disaster relief, the announcements by Bush's Cabinet secretaries and White House staff have come largely in swing states and with key interest groups.