It’s just after 6:00 am here in Oregon. So far we’ve had a large number of ballots returned across the state. It appears that close to a record number of voters will turn in a ballot in thie vote-by-mail-only state.

Although I thought it was not OK to show political ads on election day, I just saw one for Bush.

The electoral college counter over on the right-hand side, hosted by Andrew Tanenbaum, a US citizen living and working in The Netherlands, is predicting Kerry over Bush, 298 to 231. His predicted final map shows Kerry 306-218.

I only hope that whoever wins — and I do hope that’s Kerry — wins by enough of a margin that all of the lawsuits and recounts in the world are not going to change the results. We need a President who’s won with a clear mandate.

Remember, if you live in Oregon and you haven’t voted yet, it’s way too late to mail your ballot! You can drop it off at your county election headquarters or a myriad of other drop-off boxes. Click the link or call 1-866-ORE-VOTES for drop-off information.

If you live in another state, please go to your regular polling place and vote. Every vote counts!