Headlines

With most voter ID laws blocked before the 2012 elections and local election officials and civic groups prepared for True the Vote's intimidation tactics, some of the worst fears about voter disenfranchisement were averted in Tuesday's vote. But partisan voting laws and continued confusion over election administration led to long lines -- prompting President Obama to note "by the way, we have to fix that," in his acceptance speech.

Despite over half a million dollars spent by the fossil fuel industry in Longmont, Colorado, residents voted Tuesday to make the city the first to ban hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" in the state. The city of 87,000, nestled at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, voted 59 to 41 to ban the controversial method of extracting shale oil and gas, as well as to ban the storage of the toxin-laden wastewater in the city limits.

The people of Missouri and Indiana were, in effect, given a referendum on "legitimate rape" on election day, and they soundly rejected the concept by defeating U.S. Senate candidates Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock. The two legislators had stirred controversy over their verbal attempts to characterize the validity of a rape victim's experience in order to push forward their anti-abortion agendas.

Wisconsin has upheld its reputation as a truly purple state by electing Democrat Tammy Baldwin to the U.S. Senate, by a solid margin of 51 to 46, and reelecting President Barack Obama to a second term, just months after handing the Tea Party and out-of-state special interests a victory by voting to keep far-right Governor Scott Walker in office. Baldwin's victory, along with Elizabeth Warren's win in Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown's win in Ohio, helps ensure Democrats keep control of the U.S. Senate.