To those of you who exercised your right to vote in the 2008 General Election, I applaud you! Now that the election is over and the analysts begin investigate who voted and why they voted the way they did, and the rest of us begin to look toward the future and what the outcome will mean for our country, I thought I might make one final post about this election. This is the post that inspired me to do it, discovered on The Daily Beast. (CIRCLE is the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a nonpartisan research center studying youth civic engagement and civic education.)

CIRCLE Increases Youth Turnout Estimates; The Youth Vote Impact in Pictures
by Michael Connery

http://futuremajority.com/node/3969

In fact, the author has published a number of blog posts rounding up the news on the impact of the youth vote on the 2008 election.

Check out their "About" page to learn more about the mission of the Future Majority blog and the post's author, Michael Connery.

Quickly, some cool election tools from PBS and their partners in public media:  http://www.pbs.org/vote2008/tools/. You can even add widgets to your own site!

Check out Newseum for 714 of today's front pages from 66 countries, including the US: http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp

For more, check out news from around the world in the Libraries' Press Display database and others.

In related news, Christiane Amanpour (CNN's Chief International Correspondent) offers her perspective in "World Welcomes Obama with Open Arms, Demands" on CNN.com.

In Pennsylvania, polls are open from 7am to 8pm. Please inform yourself and exercise your right to vote today!

Not sure where you vote? Find out here.

Everyone knows we're voting to elect a President, but who else will you have the opportunity to vote for? Check out all the contests and measures on your ballot.

Are you a first-time voter in Pennsylvania? Checkout VotesPA.com, the Pennsylvania Dept. of State's online voting information and resource center. Everything you really need to know is in the Guide for First-Time Voters, including acceptable types of identification as required of first-time voters.

* Watch voting machine demos and become familiar with the system your polling place uses. Worried about touch screen problems you've seen on the news? Altoona and Blair County uses the Hart InterCivic eVote system, which uses a wheel system, similar to an iPod, and an "Enter" button to make your selection.
* Find out where to vote.
* Learn about provisional ballots, in case there are questions about your eligibility to vote.
* Find out who to contact if you have question or problem.

Watch the Hart InterCivic eVote Voting System Demo or find out which system other counties use.

This week's cover of Time magazine is all about "7 Things That Could Go Wrong on Election Day". Read on to understand potential problems.

"As it stands, the American voting system is a worrisome mess, a labyrinth of local, state and federal laws spotted with bewildered volunteers, harried public officials, partisan distortions, misdesigned forms, malfunctioning machines and polling-place confusion.... if the election is close, these problems matter a great deal."

1. The Database Dilemma
2. 'Mickey Mouse' Registrations and Polling-Place Changes
3. Bad Forms
4. The Voting-Machine Fiasco
5. The Unequal Distribution of Resources
6. New Burdens of Proof
7. Confusing Rules, Bad Information

Okay, so, I missed a day. That just means I have a double dose today.

FactCheck.org released their new "Whoppers of 2008: The Sequel" today.

"And there are some fresh deceptions gobbling up airtime, including false depictions of McCain's position on stem cell research, Obama's connections to former Weatherman Bill Ayers and the community group ACORN, and both candidates' health care plans. Then there's a new parlor game, pin-the-blame-on-the-candidate for the financial crisis that has gripped the country."

As always, the great thing about these reports is that they provide their sources when they cry "foul" on a candidate, helping you see the real truth for yourself.

And, in case you'll miss election discussion on campus or you're dying to find someone else that feels the way you do, over the weekend you can head on over to CNN/Facebook's "People's Debate".

The Pew Research Center for People and the Press has a new report on who will win Tuesday's election, based on their survey data and analysis. At this point, election coverage is mostly a lot of speculation and some last-minute rallies.

Approximately 90% of voters have made up their minds about who they're voting for. For those of us that have decided, the "undecideds" are a bit of a mystery, so be sure to check out the "Who Are the Undecideds?" section at the bottom of the report for some help figuring them out.

"Undecided voters are less educated, less affluent, and somewhat more likely to be female than the average voter. Nearly half of undecided voters (48%) say they attend religious services at least weekly, which is same as the proportion of McCain supporters."

Read the report to see how race, religion, education, income, and age may affect how both decided and undecided Americans are voting this year.

Did you hear about the Big 10 Battleground Poll? Faculty experts in political science (including Michael Berkman from Penn State), economics, and communications from eight of the Big 10 schools gather to analyze public opinion about the upcoming election in these "midwestern" (and Pennsylvania) battleground states.

How did Pennsylvanians respond to the poll? And which candidate is leading now?

Watch Big 10 Battleground: Election 2008, originally aired on the Big 10 network on October 23, where they discuss:

• results of their latest poll from October 23
• what has changed in the past month to change voters' minds (a dead heat has turned to a seemingly clear winner)
• impact of spending
• role of the debates
• whether the choice of Vice President matters
• ongoing issue of race
• swing voters may be swinging
• what you should look for on election night

On the program website, easily skip around to the sections you're most interested in.

Use Google Maps to find your polling place based on your home address (the one you used when you registered to vote). Then, map the route to your polling place from your home! Try it out--Google Map your polling place!

They do caution you to verify this is your correct polling place. To verify your polling place with local election officials in Blair County, call 814-693-3150. (UPDATE: You can also verify your polling place online at the PA Dept. of State website, www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us.) Live on campus? Don't forget:
Election Day "Voter Vans" provided for Penn State Altoona Students
When: 10am-6pm, every half hour (Tuesday, November 4)
Where: just behind the bus stop in front of Hawthorne

Google also has a cool 2008 U.S. Election portal for finding election-related news, video, and more:

• Knol debate series - read what the experts are saying on the policy issues (Knol is Google's answer to Wikipedia; original essays written by experts)
• Election Map Mashups
• In Quotes - quotes from the candidates (and other politicians) on the issues
  
• Audio Indexing - search what the candidates are saying, then watch the video