Nov 5, 2008 1:08 am US/Central
Obama Wins Indiana In Tight Race
First Time Indiana Has Gone Democratic Since 1964
GARY, Ind. (CBS) ―
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U.S. President elect Barack Obama gives his victory speech to supporters during an election night gathering in Grant Park on November 4, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Obama defeated Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) by a wide margin.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Barack Obama has won the Indiana presidential race, marking the first state win for a Democrat there since 1964.
As of just after 1 a.m., with 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama had captured 50 percent of the vote to McCain's 49 percent.
The narrow race came after Obama ran an unprecedented campaign in the state by spending millions of dollars in advertising and manpower that Republicans were unable to match on McCain's behalf.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports that in Northwest Indiana, there were worries that some voters might be casting their ballots more than once. Election officials said that was not true. They said they have an audit system in place to ensure all the numbers match up.
Still, election officials were feeling pressure from the nation's watchful eyes, because of the potential that heavily Democratic Lake County could swing the presidential race.
"I'm pretty happy with the process," said Lake Station, Ind., election inspector Billie Davis.
The Lake County Board of Elections has 151 counters, who tallied the early and absentee votes in envelopes first.
Because of fears of mistakes or fraud because of late vote totals in the primary, the board moved the counting to a room where reporters and the public could see the process.
"They're watching the screen constantly," said Michelle Fajman. "If there's an error, we go searching for it. If there's something missing, we go looking."
But some voters calling in to radio station 92.3 FM were not so sure.
When DJ Donnie Devo asked one voter what her experience was like at her polling place, she replied, "It was terrible."
Devo took complaints and compliments from all over the area.
In Hammond, election workers said new voter registrations slowed the system.
"I got here today, and I wasn't on the voter ballot list," said Bradley Waterman.
But most who came were able to cast their ballots.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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