Watching the Polls in New Hampshire

Lee, here...

I'm blogging LIVE from NPR's special election coverage of the New Hampshire primaries. I'm here in the newsroom. Tell Me More host Michel Martin and All Things Considered host Robert Siegel are steps away co-hosting tonight's coverage in Studio 2A.

Tonight, we're offering you LIVE coverage — on the radio and on the Web — with updates on the latest information, as we know it.

First, let's go to where the real action is — New Hampshire. Earlier today, we spoke with Felice Belman, Executive Editor of the Concord Monitor. Belman checked in with us moments ago from Concord, NH. Here's her take on how things are playing out there and what voters are saying:

In Concord, by all accounts, turnout has been huge. At St. Peter's Church, where I vote, it was crowded first thing in the morning. At the Concord City Auditorium, where they held "early bird" voting at 6:30 a.m., the line was so long that many commuters gave up and went to work. And at several city polling places midday, ballots were in short supply.
Voters were excited to participate, but many didn't make up their minds until the last minute ... One man from Franklin [New Hampshire] told us midday that he liked Ron Paul, but voted for Mitt Romney ... A woman from Canterbury said she'd taken a Democratic ballot for the first time in her life; her vote went to Obama. ... Independents will be the big story of the night. Another demographic to watch out for: kids. They came out in a big way for Obama. And if the excitement in downtown Concord among 20-somethings is an indication, they may well do the same thing here.

Thanks, Felice.

ELECTION ALERT: At this moment, NPR News is calling the Republican race in New Hampshire for Arizona Sen. John McCain.

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