It's official: No sleep for the Sergeant tonight, folks.

I swear, waiting for poll results is worse than crack withdrawal. I need something to take the edge off before my fingernails are bitten clean away, so this week, I'll do something different: A running analysis of Maine's Question 1 and Washington state's Referendum 71. For those who aren't familiar with these, here goes: A while back, Maine's legislature finally put through a bill granting same-sex couples equal rights as straight couples. Option 1 seeks to repeal that. A push for No on 1 could be one of the first major victories for same-sex marriage at the ballot box.

Washington's Ref. 71, on the other hand, is basically the opposite: a vote to preserve the existence of a law that gives legal protection to gay couples. A vote of Yes here could have similar implications to a No in Maine. Either way, though, both of these will likely be very, very, very close, hence my aforementioned pseudo-crack withdrawal. Here goes:

As of 11:30 PM EST, Maine has Yes leading by ~2-3%, with 68% of precincts returned. Obviously, way to close for anyone to call at this point, but as a same-sex marriage proponent, I'm getting nervous.

Washington, on the other hand, currently has Yes leading as well, by ~4-5%, with 42% reporting in. Again close, but this one at least gives me hope. Either way, I'll keep posting as new info comes in.


Midnight: No change yet in Washington. Maine has 74% in, and the gap is widening, with Yes now leading by ~4%. That said, if same-sex marriage has a shot anywhere in the state, it'd be in Portland, and most of their precincts aren't in yet. Further, that difference is only ~20,000 votes. Sounds massive, but each side already has 10 times that number, so it's not that much. More later.


12:15 AM: Nothing new from either of the main races, but NY-23's done. Owens (D) won, Hoffman's conceded. Still, though I was opposed to him, he made a very impressive 3rd party showing (even if the Republican did have to thrown out by her own party for it to happen).

12:35 AM: No real changes. No on 1 in Maine has slipped a little, with currently ~4-5% down. 84% in, so it's really starting to look a loss for civil rights there. Absolutely nothing in Washington, 50% in, same breakdown as before. I think the Washington ballot counters all went home for the night or something.


1 AM: Washington's a done deal, apparently. The Secretary of State for Washington declared Yes on 71 to be the winner.


1:10 AM: Okay, I'm calling Maine. 87% of precincts in, and No on 1 trails by 5%. Looks like opponents of civil rights have won this one. I'll keep one eye on it just in case, though. Medical marijuana bill passed, so that's awesome, at least. Oh well, some dude's streaming Pulp Fiction on a webcam, so time for some epic.