We've got a long night ahead of us folks and all hands are on deck down here in the Press Herald newsroom.

Tonight we're going to partake a bit of an experiment as I'll be live blogging Election night here from the Press Herald Newsroom (Or Press Herald Plaza as I affectionately refer to it. Election Plaza was already taken.)

I'll give you updates on what we're chasing, where our reporters are and any other election night tidbits I can find.

Check back often!

12:30 a.m. - Well folks, looks like my night is about to come to an end. My story - as resolved and unresolved as it is (you know, with a candidate who has not conceded despite an almost 14 point deficit in the returns) - is done for the evening. But trust me, there will be plenty more to write about tomorrow. Someone told me recently, it's not the day after the election when everyone rest. There's too much to follow up and a serious euphoria for some and disappointment for others. But Thursday, that's the day of rest, they said. Good night, and good luck. And drive safe.

12:25 a.m. - It's early morning and a lot of races look to be decided. But the work is not done here. Right now with the first edition of the newspaper off and being printed, reporters, editors and copy editors are working to make changes to stories, updating figures and plugging in quotes and other material that may not have made the first deadline. At the same time the web staff is coordinating with the editors and reporters to get all of this information online as it comes in.

12:19 a.m. - So many questions at this historic hour in America. Chief among them, what of this Obamapuppy? What type of puppy will it be? A small breed or big? What will they call it? Will Barack and Michelle have to take care of it when the girls grow tired of it? Will it have a secret service detail?

12:06 p.m. - Who'd have thought we'd be hearing from the president elect before midnight on the East Coast. Sure polls showed Obama with a lead nationally and in certain states, but did anyone think the race would be over this soon?

11:39 p.m. - The Long Wait begins. The Summers campaign says they are going into seclusion and awaiting the rest of the returns. While the numbers don't seem to be heading in their favor they are waiting for Scarborough and feel good about the returns from Kennebec and York counties.

11:36 p.m. - Just ran into Republican State Senate candidate Eric Lusk, running in district 8. Currently Lusk running third behind Democrat Justin Alfond and Green Independent William Linnell. Lusk (who I happen to know thanks to a softball connection. That's another story) said he plans to take tomorrow off. Something tells me there will be a lot of people doing that.

11:30 p.m. - Lucky me, I got on what looks to be the most interesting race of the night. Ruth Summers just got on the mic to thank supporters assembled here at the Holiday Inn, but told them they're holding on for a long night.

"It's gonna be a long night," Ruth Summers said. "We're not budging, quite frankly, until we hear from Scarborough."

That's Summers home town and part of the district he represented in the Senate. Stay tuned.

11:23 p.m. - Back on the blog after chasing Pingree and Summers. Currently at Summers HQ where it looks like a double bummer - folks are watching McCain concede as Summers urgently waits for results to come in while he is behind. He's behind 56 percent to 43 percent with just over a third of precincts reporting. They're hopeful for good numbers from York and Kennebec counties.

9:50 p.m. - We're coming to you live on the scene at the Summers headquarters at the Holiday Inn by the Bay. Just had a quick chat with Charlie Summers and he says he's anxious to see the results coming in from "outside of Portland." Interesting notes about the Summers party - Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" was playing when I walked in and Fox News is on the projection screen. I'm stationed near the TV folks so if you see a guy huddled over a laptop on TV then you know it's me.

9:25 p.m. - Just spotted Charlie Summers on WCSH 6, talking about the undecideds. Summers is placing his political career on those undecideds, at least 25 percent of the 1st district voters according to one of the last polls. With 6 percent of precincts reporting Pingree has pulled ahead 63 percent to 36 percent. I'm off to the show.

9:18 p.m. - I'm going to have to go rogue and depart the Elections Desk for a bit. I'll be heading to the Pingree and Summers camps and waiting for the race to unfold and both candidates to give their speeches.

9:18 p.m. - To give you another peek behind the curtain, here's how things work on the news desk as deadlines start to approach. We're going to have two editions of the newspaper for tomorrow, an early one that goes to York County and parts of the coast, and the final edition that goes out closer to the Portland area. Deadlines for the early edition start around 10:15 p.m. Now if you've been looking at the results, that means it's completely likely that some of the races will have incomplete results in the early edition of the paper. For instance my story on the 1st District race is due in around 11 p.m. for early edition. Now depending on where the results are I may just have to report what the totals are at deadline for the early edition. The later edition may get the whole results. Maybe.

Thank goodness for the Interwebs, where there's no deadline.

9:14 p.m. - Just got off the phone with both the Summers and Pingree campaigns and both are cautiously watching returns. Any ideas of an early results and speeches seem to have been thrown out the window.
Meanwhile the Celtics are beating the Houston Rockets in the second quarter. (Copy desk is doing some channel switching at the moment. It breaks things up nicely.)

9:07 p.m. - Looking at some of the exit poll data TV is using, they're seeing increased voter turnout among minorities and young people, which is believed to be in Obama's favor. But - and this is a question being posed plenty of places - if turnout goes up overall, is that a wash basically? Thoughts?

9:04 p.m. - Let me put this out to all of you (or at least the small handful reading): On the networks, what is the difference between "Too Early to Call" and "Too Close to Call?" Thoughts?

9:00 p.m. - We're back at the top of the hour, EST, and more states are about to roll in with returns. Meanwhile, as Sharky points out in the comments, lots of sites are finding interesting ways to track voting tonight. For example if you follow Votereport on Twitter you can get real-time reactions from people who voted and are following the race in their community. Thanks for the tip Sharky!

8:55 p.m. - Interesting numbers finally coming in. Like I said, closer to 9 p.m. EST and the numbers start to roll. About 1 percent of precincts reporting, but the Pingree/Summers race is about 51 percent to 49 percent, favoring Pingree.
The beverage tax repeal referendum question is 67 percent to 32 percent in favor of repeal. The yes votes are also ahead in the Oxford County Casino referendum at 57 percent to 42 percent. Again, this is 1 percent for precincts reporting. But interesting. We'll have to see how things play out.

8:50 p.m. - We've called the U.S. Senate race for Collins based on AP predictions and exit polls.

8:40 p.m. - OK, can some explain to me the ice skating rink electoral map at Rockefeller Center thing NBC does? I recall it being there from past elections, but doesn't it strike anyone as odd? Especially in a year with hologram correspondents, interactive electoral maps and AC360? Maybe they could make it more fun by have a red vs. blue hockey match.

8:35 p.m. - Oh the waiting. Polls closed about 30 minutes ago, but only 1 of 612 precincts in Maine has reported. Again, you're probably wondering why and how it is Obama and Collins have been called as winners. I don't have any inside knowledge on the secret math and wizardry that goes on, but all I can tell you is that it's all based on exit polls. Still, as far as actual results this is not unusual. After 9 p.m. is when numbers really start rolling in.

8:30 p.m. - The candidates surrogates are starting to trickle out on local TV. Rebecca Pollard, spokesperson for the Maine Democrats, was speaking at Tom Allen headquarters in South Portland, and Ruth Summers, wife of (and brief stand-in for) Republican Charlie Summers, spoke at Summers HQ in Portland.

8:20 p.m. - This may also be of interest to our friends to the south - The networks are calling Democrat Jeanne Shaheen the winner in the New Hampshire Senate Race against incumbent Republican Sen. John Sununu.

8:15 p.m. - Another bonus to working in a newspaper newsroom on Election night rather than TV? No talking heads eating up time while results come in. When we get 'em, we post 'em. No one telling you what they mean. Trust me, no one wants me telling anyone what an election means. Unless of course I get one of those cool touch screen maps. Then all bets are off. Wow, that went off track fast.

8:10 p.m. - Annnnnd the networks are at it again. This is unconfirmed but they are calling Sen. Susan Collins as the winner in the U.S. Senate race (according to AP data, NBC says). Looking at our results, well, the results are still coming in. Again, they're looking at exit polls.

8:05 p.m. - Of course not all the drama has been sucked out of the Presidential race here in Maine. While the networks are putting us in the Obama column, it's uncertain if McCain will be able to pick off an electoral vote in the 2nd Congressional District. Stay tuned.

8 p.m. - It's the top the hour and returns are coming in from the networks. They are calling Maine and New Hampshire for Obama. Nice going networks, way to ruin it for us. (They're relying on exit polls for the early projections.)

7:55 p.m. - Have I mentioned that we've got bacon pizza for the newsroom staff tonight? More than a few people have pointed that out to me. It's the small things that make election night go smoothly people. (In this case bacon pizza and coffee. Not together. At least not yet.)

7:50 p.m. - Just about 10 minutes until the polls close in the state. So far most reports have long lines at the polls, but no major problems. Remember, according to state law you can still vote if you are in line at the time the polls close. At least 15 states close down the polls at 8 p.m.

7:45 p.m. - In the Maine Senate race Collins leads by 3 votes, according to early results. Of course those are the only 3 votes counted at the moment.

7:44 p.m. - Presidential returns at the moment: Networks have called Kentucky for McCain, Vermont for Obama and other early states (Indiana, Florida, Virginia) are too close to call.

7:40 p.m. - If you're following the election online tonight there are obviously plenty of resources for voting results. (We'd prefer if you stick with us, obviously.) But check out this interactive map gadget from Google that shows results as they come in and can break them down by state.

7:30 p.m. - Speaking of sweet election night gadgets. Here's what we don't have at Press Herald Plaza: touch screen monitors that break down voting districts, interactive graphic studios where correspondents can interact with polling data, and now we can add to that list Holograms. What we do have: some nice flat screens to monitor national results, a live feed of results coming in from our partners up at the Bangor Daily News, and a bunch of note pads, pens and cameras. It's low-tech but it suits us fine.

7:25 p.m. - Holy R2 D2! Keep your eyes peeled to CNN people. The newsroom just caught a glimpse of the "Most Trusted Name in News" using hologram technology. Yes, that's right. A CNN corespondent was reporting from Chicago via Hologram, just like Princess Leia. I know the networks are trying out all the new toys tonight, but holograms?

7:14 p.m. - Looks like we've got some Election night sniping at Maine! Roger Caitlin of the Hartford Courant says Fox News is a little silly calling early returns from Maine - 2-1 for Obama. From one precinct. Does he think we count votes differently here?

7:09 p.m. - Here's how things will break down tonight, we've got more than a dozen reporters and a group of editors covering the election tonight, from the city council all the way up to the presidential race. One of the biggest races tonight is Republican Susan Collins vs. Democrat Tom Allen and we've got three people on that race, two dispatched to both candidates headquarters and one here at Press Herald Plaza.

In the 1st District Race between Republican Charlie Summers and Democrat Chellie Pingree I'll be heading out to cover that later on in the evening. I'll literally be running out to cover that race - both candidates events are blocks away from each other in Portland. (Holiday Inn by the Bay for Summers and Empire Dine and Dance for Pingree)

7:01 p.m. - Annd the cable networks have already called Vermont for Obama. I'm sure that took a while to count.

6:50 p.m. - To give you a sense of how things work here on election night, I'll put it this way - it's the one time of year an actual newsroom mirrors what you see on TV and in movies. Movie parts, TVs on high pitch, people pacing, and plans changing on the fly. Also reporters scavenging for food like college freshmen.

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