Election Day now: Obama wins

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - This diary will be updated throughout the day, and will provide a timeline of Election Day events, both locally and nationally. Check back often.

Nov. 7

1:32 a.m. (AP) Republicans win control of House for 2 more years, assuring more clashes with Obama.

1:15 a.m. (AP) - Michigan Proposals 2 and 4 fail: Michigan voters opt not to guarantee union collective bargaining rights in state constitution.

12:49 a.m. (AP) - Michigan Proposal 6 fails.

12:18 a.m. (AP) - Michigan Proposal 3 fails.

12:07 a.m. (AP) - Michigan Proposal 5 fails.

12:00 a.m. - Both Grand Rapids ballot proposals pass. Proposal 1 eliminated the elected City Comptroller position and Proposal 2 decriminalized marijuana possession.

Nov. 6

11:50 p.m. - The Justin Amash banner goes back up at the Kent-Ottawa GOP watch party. No winner has been declared.

11:20 p.m. - Pres. Barack Obama wins Ohio and Iowa. NBC News projects him as the winner of the presidential election.

10:55 p.m. - Democrat Winnie Brinks declares victory over Rep. Roy Schmidt (R-Grand Rapids) in the 76th House District: "Because of your hard work we are able to declare victory tonight."

10:45 p.m. - The Justin Amash banner is taken down at the Kent-Ottawa GOP watch party in Grand Rapids. An Amash spokesperson tells 24 Hour News 8 Amash won't speak until Grand Rapids precincts report.

10:21 p.m. - Walker votes to remain connected to the Rapid.

9:55 p.m. - Sen. Debbie Stabenow takes the podium in Detroit to chants of "Debbie, Debbie, Debbie" after defeating opponent Congressman Pete Hoekstra.

8:50 - 8:55 p.m. -- WOOD TV8 projects Debbie Stabenow beats Pete Hoekstra, and Proposals 2-6 are defeated. Proposal 1 remains too close to call. NBC News projects President Obama wins Michigan.

8:29 p.m. - EPIC_MRA exit poll shows Barack Obama with a 50-48 lead over Mitt Romney in Michigan in very early numbers.

8:15 p.m. - EPIC-MRA exit polls show that all statewide ballot proposals except Proposal 1 are trending toward no.

8:00 p.m. - Polls officially close in the state of Michigan. Some in Grand Rapids who waited for hours in line will still be allowed to vote.

6:54 p.m. - A rock thrown through the window at Sibley Elementary in Grand Rapids left a baseball-sized hole just feet from voting booths.

6:20 p.m. - Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell arrives at Community Revival Center, where some people have been waiting for three hours to vote. He helps pass out sample ballots to waiting voters and again promises that "everyone will have an opportunity to vote," even if the polling place has to remain open until 9 p.m.

6:20 p.m. - (AP) - Preliminary results from a national exit poll in Tuesday's elections for The Associated Press and the television networks:

• 60% of voters said the economy was the biggest issue facing the country, about the same percentage as 2008. Next were health care (17%) and the deficit (15%). A measly 4% said foreign policy was the top issue. 77% of voters called the economy not so good or poor.
• Four in 10 voters said unemployment was the biggest economic problem facing voters like them. Nearly as many called rising prices the biggest economic problem.
• Six in 10 voters said that taxes should be increased. Nearly half of voters said that taxes should be increased on income over $250,000, as President Barack Obama has called for, while 1 in 7 said taxes should be increased for all. Just over one-third said taxes should not be increased for anyone.
• 50% of voters favored repealing some or all of Obamacare. Forty-three percent preferred that the health care law be expanded or left as is.
• Only 3 in 10 voters said that most illegal immigrants working in the U.S. should be deported, while nearly two-thirds said such people should be offered a chance to apply for legal status.
• Just under one-third of voters said vision for the future mattered most in their vote for president, and a similar number said sharing their values was the most important candidate quality.

5:59 p.m. - (AP) - Anecdotal reports from across the country suggested voters were enthusiastically making their voices heard. Long lines were reported from Michigan to Florida, from Nebraska to South Carolina. In Virginia, election officials said statewide turnout would likely meet or exceed the 2008 Presidential Election. Pennsylvania officials said they expected about 70% of the state's nearly 8.5 million voters would turn out by the time polls closed.

5:45 p.m. - (AP) - Speaking to reporters aboard his campaign plane on his last flight on the campaign, Romney said he just finished writing his victory speech on the flight from Pittsburgh to Boston. "It's about 1,118 words. I'm sure it'll change before I'm finished because I haven't passed it around to my family and friends and advisors to get their reaction. But I've only written one speech at this point."

4:48 p.m. - (AP) - Squeakers in presidential

elections over the past century, in which the winner collected fewer than 300 Electoral College votes:

• 1916: Democratic incumbent Woodrow Wilson defeats Republican Charles Hughes 277 to 254.
• 1976: Democrat Jimmy Carter defeats Republican incumbent Gerald Ford 297 to 240.
• 2000: Republican George W. Bush defeats Democrat Al Gore 271 to 266.
• 2004: Republican incumbent George W. Bush defeats Democrat John Kerry 286 to 251.

4:44 p.m. - Beech Elementary in Cedar Springs announces the results of its annual 3rd grade mock election: Romney beats Obama 240-209 and Hoekstra beats Stabenow 37-34.

4:17 p.m. - The City of Grand Rapids announces that the average wait time at polling locations is 90 minutes. Some locations are seeing a three-hour wait. In a release, Mayor George Heartwell urges voters to be patient. He promises that anyone in line when polls close at 8 p.m. will be allowed to cast their ballot. "No one will be disenfranchised," he says in the release.

3:43 p.m. - An Ottawa County elections official told 24 Hour News 8 a few voting machines had some problems early in the day but they've been fixed.
(AP) -- Sporadic problems were reported Tuesday at polling places around the country, including a confrontation in Pennsylvania involving Republican inspectors over access to some polls and a voting machine that lit up for Republican Mitt Romney even when a voter pressed the button for President Barack Obama.

2:40 p.m. (AP) - VP Joe Biden's stop in Cleveland came as Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan made Election Day stops in the city at about the same time. Ohio has become a central battleground in the presidential race. Biden voted in Delaware on Tuesday morning and told reporters it might not be the last time he votes for himself in an election. He said voting is a great honor and urged Americans to "stand in line as long as you have to" in order to vote. "It's always a kick" to vote, Biden said.

12:25 p.m. - (AP) - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder waited with his family for about half an hour to vote on Election Day at his polling place near Ann Arbor.

12 Noon -- Some of the photos of Election Day 2012 around West Michigan . Check back throughout the day for more pictures.

11:57 a.m. - The next generation of voters got practice at a mock election at Alamo Elementary in Otsego.

11:38 a.m. -- Michigan Secretary of State said use of video cameras (including cell phone video cameras), cameras and recording devices by voters, challengers and poll watchers is prohibited in the polls during the
hours the polls are open for voting.

11:36 a.m. - Hour long line to vote at Shawnee Park in the Grand Rapids area. Kent County Director of Elections said there are no real problems being reported in the county.

11:19 a.m. - (AP) - Democrat Kim Coonan, who has held the 6th District seat with the Bay County commission since 2002, on Tuesday is facing Republican Joe Davis, the 4th District's second-year representative. Davis claims he was beaten to the ground outside Our Lady of The Visitation Parish after approaching Coonan, who threatened him. Coonan denies he threatened anyone, and says he was defending himself.

10:30 a.m. - GOP Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra voted in the Holland area

10:19 a.m. -- A 24 Hour News 8 viewer asks via ReportIt why can there be a Vote No on Prop 2 sign in front of the city of Wyoming water building.

10:16 a.m. -- A 24 Hour News 8 viewer told 24 Hour News 8 via ReportIt that the polling location at Harrison Park Elementary School in Grand Rapids has yard signs for Vote Yes on Prop 2 lining the front of the school property. Prop 2 is endorsed by the teachers' union, which makes many wondering if this is appropriate.

9:55 a.m. -- The ballot machine at Precinct 13 in Georgetown Township was broken when the polls opened

9:13 a.m. -- A precinct chairperson at a polling location in Grand Rapids tells 24 Hour News 8 the average time to cast a ballot is 45 minutes.

8:54 a.m. -- Mitt and Ann Romney cast their ballots near their Belmont, Mass. home.

7:28 a.m. -- 24 Hour News 8 viewers tell us there are long lines at voting locations in Zeeland. One voter said he arrived at 6:40 a.m. and a line had already formed.

7:23 a.m. -- 24 Hour News 8 viewers tell us there are long lines of voters at Grandville Precinct 3.

7:17 a.m. --  Kalamazoo County voters can get a ride to polling locations via churches; call 269.388.8801 for more information.

7:14 a.m. -- The first voter in line at Beckwith Hills Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids took nine minutes to cast the ballot.

7:10 a.m. -- There are reports of 200 voters in line at a Grand Haven polling location.

7:06 a.m. -- Long lines are seen at many voting locations in West Michigan.

7:00 a.m. -- Voting locations officially open across Michigan!

6:55 a.m. -- About 15 people waiting in line at a polling place on Muskegon Street on Grand Rapids' west side, and a few more are arriving.

6:50 a.m. -- More than two