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When presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney introduced Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan as the next “president” of the United States on Saturday, you can imagine the sweat forming on the brows of Romney campaign staffers and smiles on the faces of Obama campaign officials.

At a naval museum in Norfolk, Va., Romney proudly announced: “Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States, Paul Ryan!”

Moments after realizing his mistake, Romney quickly returned to the microphone to say, “Every now and then I’m known to make a mistake. I did not make a mistake with this guy. But I can tell you this, he’s going to be the next vice president of the United States.”

The crowd, good-natured and supportive, laughed off the gaffe and gave another rousing cheer.

Lest Democrats get too giddy over the moment, however, it was reminiscent of another time in recent presidential campaign history when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took to an Illinois …

Continue reading Romney VP gaffe follows similar Obama moment in ‘08 »

It’s official: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has chosen Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate, sealing the ticket for the November showdown with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Ryan, a seven-term congressman, gained national attention and widespread support among conservatives after championing  a major restructuring of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and trimming trillions in federal spending.

“I believe my record of getting things done in Congress will be a very helpful complement to Governor Romney’s executive and private sector success outside Washington,” Ryan said in a statement released by the Romney campaign Saturday.

According to Washington Insider blogger Jamie Dupree, the National Journal 2011 vote ratings for the U.S. House have Ryan as the 150th most conservative, 278th most liberal congressman.

The Obama campaign quickly knocked Romney’s choice, calling Ryan “the architect of the radical …

Continue reading Will Paul Ryan help or hurt the GOP ticket? »

T-SPLOST looked headed for defeat Tuesday night.

With 67 percent of precincts reporting, 64 percent of metro Atlanta voters said no to a proposed 1 percent sales tax for a list of transportation projects. Only 36 percent of voters in the 10-county Atlanta region supported the measure. Check updated results here.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed told the gathered media at a local hotel, “I’m here tonight to stick out my chin and take the loss.”

He thanked the Atlanta business community and labor and environmental groups that supported T-SPLOST.

He also discussed what could come next.

“What we need is a bigger table … and get at why a lot of good women and men don’t trust their government enough to solve a big problem,” he said.

He’s hoping for a solution to the region’s transportation problems.

“We’re going to need the politics of cooperation if we’re going to meet these big challenges,” he said.

Continue reading T-SPLOST takes a beating »

Nearly 100 voters in one Gwinnett County precinct got the wrong ballots for a state House race.

Communications Director Joe Sorenson said the wrong ballots were cast during early voting in Precinct 137 near Buford. The wrong ballots affected only one race in the precinct, the Republican Primary for the newly created House District 103, which pits Timothy Barr against Ken Russell.

Sorenson attributed the mistake to a human error in the county elections office – the precinct was not drawn into the new House district. He said county and state officials worked over the weekend to correct the mistake and ensure that ballots cast Tuesday were correct.

Sorenson did not know what would happen to the 98 improper votes cast in the District 103 race.

Continue reading Wrong ballots in Gwinnett precinct »

The voters have had their say, and soon we’ll find out the results of today’s election. Polls closed at 7 p.m.

What’s the outcome of the historic T-SPLOST initiative — the penny sales tax referendum on transportation issues in metro Atlanta? Voters also decided on representatives for this fall’s legislative races.

Check out complete coverage on AJC.com.

Wednesday’s AJC also will have more coverage and analysis.

Also watch the AJC mobile and  iPad apps for post-election updates.

Continue reading Polls close, ballot counting begins »

DeKalb County elections officials are urging voters who could not find parking at Mount Carmel Christian Church in Stone Mountain to return to cast ballots before the polls close at 7 p.m.

The county’s Board of Registration and Elections said voters experienced some parking inconveniences at the Smokerise precinct at the church, 6015 Old Stone Mountain Road, because of another unrelated event.

“The parking issues have been corrected,” the county said in a statement.

Some voters in Cherokee County also encountered parking inconveniences at Woodstock First Baptist Church on Highway 92 after another event at the church precinct coincided with the election.

Cherokee elections chief Janet Munda, however, said there “was plenty of parking” at the church Tuesday afternoon, even if some of the spaces were not close to the building. “People may have to walk a bit,” Munda said.

Continue reading DeKalb urges voters to return to precinct »

A spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office says voter turnout “seems to be steady.”

Spokesman Jared Thomas would not provide any estimates on how many people are expected to cast ballots before polls close at 7 p.m., or where turnout was heaviest. According to the agency, Georgia has 5.8 million registered voters.

Thomas said the Secretary of State’s office is fielding calls about problems, though he would not provide specifics. “Every election day we get calls,” he said. “We do have a team spread out across the state to physically investigate.”

Thomas says the agency has set up a large call center to field calls at 404-656-2871.

Continue reading Voter turnout appears to be ’steady’ »

Updated 5 p.m.: This is a statement from Fulton County elections officials on problems in state House Districts 58 and 59:

During the course of today’s election, the Department of Registration & Elections became aware of a database error affecting approximately 300 registered voters on ten streets in Precinct 05A1/05A2 in Southeast Atlanta.

This issue affected only the State House races for a small portion of House Districts 58 and 59. No other races were affected by this issue.

After reviewing the situation, those voters impacted who have not yet voted are now able to cast their ballot on the touch screen voting machine. A senior elections official has been onsite to address voter concerns.

On Wednesday morning, the Department of Registration and Elections will begin investigating what remedial actions may need to be taken for voters impacted by this situation who already cast their ballots.

Update 4:45 p.m.: The Secretary of State’s office now confirms “significant issues” …

Continue reading Precinct card problems confirmed in districts 58, 59 »

Fulton County voters casting ballots at Crosby Spears Towers on North Avenue in Midtown had to use paper ballots temporarily after the polls opened.

County elections chief Dwight Brower told the AJC electronic voting was disrupted due to a malfunction that lasted about 40 minutes. During that time,  poll workers issued paper ballots. No further problems were reported after electronic voting was restored, Brower said.

Continue reading Paper ballots temporarily used at Midtown precinct »

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and state Sen. Vincent Fort took to the airwaves Tuesday morning for a last-minute debate of the pros and cons of the proposed T-SPLOST.

Fort, who was has been an outspoken critic of the transportation referendum, said on V-103 radio that the tax “doesn’t pass the fairness test. A billionaire pays the same rate as Grandmama on a fixed income. That’s not fair.”

Fort claimed that if the measure passes, citizens of counties already paying a 1 percent MARTA tax “are going to be double-taxed.”

Reed pointed out that Fort voted for the bill in the state Senate. “He voted to put it on the ballot,” the mayor said.

The mayor was also quick to point out that civil rights icons Joseph Lowery, Andrew Young and John Lewis are all in favor of T-SPLOST.

“Surely, these people who stood on the front line for freedom to even allow you and I to sit in this studio, if they made a decision to support it, how in the world can folks be on the other side, saying that this is …

Continue reading Mayor Reed, Sen. Fort face off at V-103 on T-SPLOST »