Is this election over yet?

While the Democrats will spend election night at the Eagles Club, Hill County Republican Chair Andrew Brekke last week was advising the party faithful of the election night plans.

Republicans will gather at the party headquarters on 1st Street starting early in the night "until it's all over," Brekke said.

John Kelleher

Glancing at polls and talking to polls on both sides of the political aisle, I wonder of Brekke might want to come up with a different choice of words.

Given the number of close races, from president of the United States to Hill County commissioner, some of the races may not be over until Thursday or later.

In virtually every race where there has been a poll, the candidates are, at most, a couple of points apart.

Tuesday could be a long night. And we may go to bed not knowing who has won.

But we at the Havre Daily News will also be around as long as it takes.

Old-timers like me can't help but look back and see how things have changed on election night over the years.

For one thing, the Clerk and Recorder offices in Hill and Blaine counties are outstanding at getting results available to the public as soon as possible. The computerization of the process combined with the dedication of the employees means that results will be available fast — though I'm sure not fast enough for candidates and their supporters.

The Montana Secretary of State's office has designed a tremendous system for getting results out quickly. And The Associated Press has a brilliant system of collecting votes from all corners of the Treasure State.

With the combination of sources, we can be sure that our website, our Twitter and our Facebook page will get the results as quickly as possible Tuesday night.

While there are plenty of places on television, radio and the Internet to get national results, we think nobody will have quicker, more accurate Montana and Hi-Line results than the Havre Daily News.

Video of festivities at Republican and Democratic headquarters will be on our website throughout the night, featuring interviews with party leaders and winning and losing candidates.

Reporters Tim Leeds and Zach White will be gathering information all night. Caleb Hutchins and I will be in the office feeding information into the computers.

Matt Volz, Matthew Brown and Matt Gouras will be staffing the Associated Press in Helena with the daunting task of figuring out who won these close contests and undertaking the even more daunting task for figuring out what it all means.

And for the most complete coverage of who won and why, be sure to pick up Wednesday's Havre Daily News. And then, pick up Thursday, in case there are still some undecided races. And then Friday's … .

(John Kelleher is managing editor of the Havre Daily News.)