Election Day Liveblog

There's a lot going on so let's just put it all in one place.

10:58 PM: Polls closed almost 2 hours, but staff & pollworkers still working on supply check in. Thanks to everyone for the long day!

10:35 PM: Some minor corrections, none affecting candidate totals. One more total voter, some write-ins.

9:53 PM: Our last precinct reported! Stay tuned. A lot of precincts phoned results in and corrections still possible.

8:53 PM: We use http://time.gov/ for our official closing time

8:40 PM: Our returns crew is gathering in our ballot room, won't be long now! Most of the action from here on out will be on Twitter and the results page of the Official site.

7:46 PM: Looks like the worst of the severe weather will miss us (whew).

7:12 PM: Reports of polls closed in western Iowa due to weather emergencies. Reminder: state law won't let us extend hours if we have to close for severe weather. This from the Woodbury County Auditor:

Sgt. Bluff poll workers were allowed to pull their vehicles in the polling place before the weather hit. pic.twitter.com/oqA3iq5Nhi
— Pat Gill (@WCAudRec) June 3, 2014

6:53 PM: We've been busy but not too busy for 6 PM turnout update: 5828 voters, 6.7% turnout. We're sending extra ballots, mainly Republican, to several precincts. We may be the People's Republic but we're also one of the top 10 Republican counties in the state.

4:17 PM: Thanks to the City Channel 4 crew for broadcasting election returns! The cable guys are here testing now to be ready for 9:00. Clarification: the returns themselves will be on channel 5. City council called dibs on Channel 4.

3:32 PM: Our 3:00 voter total is 3543 for turnout of 4.1% http://www.johnson-county.com/auditor/returns/1406turnout.htm 2187 Democrats, 1358 Republicans. Next turnout update at 6.

2:50 PM. Planning ahead in case power goes out. Our normal plan is to post returns on our regular web site jcauditor.com. If that site is down, please check this blog, our Twitter feed @jcauditor or our Facebook page.  Returns for federal, state and legislative races will be available at the Secretary of State's web site http://www.electionresults.sos.iowa.gov/  (not live till later tonight).

2:00 PM: Oops! Fixed a typo on 11 AM turnout. New total is 1777. While we're waiting for the 3:00 update, we're making plans for bad weather. Vote now before you have to worry about it!

12:11 PM: Our 11 AM check in is done. We've seen 1758 for 1.2% turnout. We have a complete party breakdown this time:1062 Democrats and 695 Republicans. Turnout is ahead of 2010 but behind 2006.

11:42 AM: Thanks to my staff for the long, hard work through election season and today. We have a potluck tradition  on Election Day, and this year we're kicking it up a notch with a grillout. Here's our grillmaster Mark Kistler (his day job is as our real estate deputy).



10:09 AM. Our computer problems are resolved. The problem was getting the second voter lookup computer at each site to connect to the main master computer at the site. We always had at least one up and running, and the issues were only with voter lookup and not with the ballot readers. Sorry for any delays.

9:52 AM: 17 ballots arrived in today's mail. That leaves 76 out. DON'T mail them today! You need to BRING them in to our office.  You can also turn them in unvoted at the poll. If you lost your absentee ballot, you can vote a provisional ballot.

Also, our final 9 AM count was 836 voters (0.96%). 489 Democrats, 263 Republicans. Numbers don't add up because three precincts didn't get us a party breakdown; it's the first primary where we've done that.

9:40 AM: With one precinct left to report 828 voters (0.95%). Compares to 1007 (1.3%) in 2006, and 720 (0.8%) in 2010. Next update 11 AM.

9:01 AM: Our first turnout update is underway! Watch this space. If you want to compare to past elections, look at 2006 and 2010 for the big picture. But remember: the precinct lines have changed since those elections.

8:20 AM: The National Weather Service has forecast the possibility of severe weather in Johnson County this afternoon.

In the event of severe weather such as tornado warnings, precinct officials are authorized to close polling places and seek shelter until the severe weather has passed. State law does not allow polling hours to be extended to make up for such closures. The urgent nature of weather warnings means our office will not be able to announce closings in advance.

For precedent, see this report on a similar event in the 2006 primary election.

8:07 AM: Precinct officials are experiencing computer problems at a number of Johnson County precincts. Our office is aware of the issues and working to resolve them. We thank the voters for their patience