IT IS DECISION TIME

In exactly 24 hours the polls will close in Alaska, bringing the 2012 American Presidential election to a finish.  Republican Mitt Romney is expected to win the three electoral votes.

The result should be known well before the voting is done on Wednesday morning (for those of us in the East) in Alaska but if it is a close race, psepholophiles could be up all night and well into the morning.

The first real test of the night will come when Virginia’s 13 electoral votes are counted. The state will be the first of the so called key battleground states to release results.  A half-hour later results will start trickling out of Ohio, considered by many to be the make or break state for Romney. The 18 electoral votes are almost a necessity for a Republican win. That said, North Carolina’s 13  electoral votes could swing in what is considered a tight fight.

At this point, the outcome of the night, or at least the pattern should be clear.

An hour later, provisional results for Florida’s 29 electoral votes will begin to trickle out. The first results will favor the Republicans as the Democratic counties are normally slow to report.

It will be after midnight when the numbers star rolling in from California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. California has 55 electoral votes, expect those Oregon, and Washington States to go to Obama, for 74.

It will be a long night, particularly if Ohio is as razor close as reported.  

 In 2004, the presidential race wasn't decided until the next day, when Democrat John Kerry called President George W. Bush to concede Ohio and the presidency.

Who will get the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency? The American people will let us know…but perhaps not until the day after they vote.