election night. we are now less than an hour away from the first poll results. and some polls are coming in. closing in. indiana, kentucky right now. now we do not report any results until all the polls close in each state. the first of six states close at 7:00 p.m. eastern. >> bret: it's expected to be one of the closest and most closely watched vote count in american history. the candidates on a cross country race, for electoral votes. 270 is needed. this is the big number. >> glenn: the race for white house takes center stage. live look. president obama headquarters in chicago. governor romney in boston. we'll take you there live in a moment. we are getting information on why they vote the way they are. martha maccallum will cover that for us. >> reporter: they are analyzing the response as they come out of the polling places tonight. there are key states like ohio and virginia. the polls are still open for hours as people come home from work and continue to vote. so many areas we haven't heard from yet. what we can tell you for sure so far is that this is a very tight race tonight. let's start with the national poll question. direction of the country. are we on the right track or the wrong track? it's evenly divided. those saying we are on the right direction and going for president obama, no surprise there. 52%, though, say we are headed in the wrong direction. they are backing governor romney. now voters are split on whether the economy is getting better or worse. huge question tonight for everyone, of course. you have about four out of ten states getting better. three of ten say it's getting worse. three of ten says it stays the same for them. slightly more voters think governor romney would hand the economy better. slightly more voters think that president obama is more in touch with people like them. okay? look at ohio and go forward. this is the hotly contested state perhaps the most, though, of the evening. union households. not a big surprise, they are breaking for president obama tonight by a fairly large margin. working class whites are siding with romney. in ohio. to show you just how close it is in the state of virginia, as we get a early look at this. that is where federal government workers reside. you would think they would lean more toward president obama but they split the vote. slight essential going to governor romney in that measure. throughout the evening. so we dig for the numbers. a lot of information to go through. more coming in, on the next wave as well. a tight race. that is one thing we can tell you right away on the exit polls. >> both candidates have been running for several years. we begin with carl cameron live in romney headquarters in boston. we begin with carl. >> thank you. country facing historical challenges and the race being historically tight for a year, governor romney today said intellectually he thought for some time he thought he would win the race. he only prepared one speech. acceptance speech. romney is now after two campaign stops on the trail on election day, back in massachusetts where he began the day. >> after a six-year quest for the presidency, former massachusetts governor mitt romney and wife ann cast 2012 ballot. the candidate give his wife a kiss goodbye and headed out for final campaign appearances to boost turn-out. >> i feel great about ohio. >> paul ryan and his wife voted in wisconsin. ryan met up with ryan in ohio where they greeted an thanked the volunteers. >> i'm so optimistic. not just about the results of the election, but optimistic about what is ahead for america. >> i got a good feel for it on the ground. it didn't feel it in 2008 frankly. we have momentum. >> tossups are a slight essential for ohio and pennsylvania for president. g.o.p. candidates traditionally outperform the polls on election day. >> we do better on election day. that historically has been the pattern. democrats tend to try to bank as many votes as they can. in early voting and absentee ballots. >> without a win in ohio, romney's path to 270 electoral vote is harder. he focused on pennsylvania where the race tightened as a possible a terntive. >> appreciate all the work you are doing. >> then back to boston to await returns with often eye on florida, ohio and virginia, team romney expects as they go, so will the nation. for months despite record spending, record campaign activity, record advertising, neither candidate really been able to break away from the other. tonight in boston there is optimism. hope, anxiousness. preparation for what could be a very late night that could spill in tomorrow or beyond. megyn, bret? >> thank you. >> bret: now to chief white house correspondent ed henry in chicago. sned >> good evening, bret. last night, the obama camp was predicting a blow-out. we got off the phone with the senior advisors saying they have to admit florida, virginia, and slew of battlegrounds are too close to call. >> president obama tried to displace calm and confidence today -- >> i expect we will have a good night. >> it was clear last night the magnitude of the moment set in. as he waits to find out whether he will secure his place in history as a transformational president or mere one-term wonder. >> he said yes, we can. and we did. >> in the freezing cold in iowa where it all started for him, a tear was visibly running down his face. he admitted today it was probably from a mix of frigid weather and nostalgia of it all. >> i have to stay that being back in des moines, thinking about all the folks in iowa who worked so hard. on my campaign in 2008. then to see them still working hard in 2012. >> today, the obama camp is dealing with another emotion. concern. 24 hours after top advisors david axelrod and david plouffe boldly predicted electoral blow-out and said they cld win all nine battlegrounds like ohio, democrats today rushed vice president biden to cleveland. as the democratic officials mocked republican romney last-minute visit to ohio and pennsylvania. >> we're not making a hail mary for a state that is hard to win here at the end. that's what we think is going on in pennsylvania on romney side. >> while the president spent the afternoon continuing his lucky tradition of playing basketball with friends on election day. local media report the athletic facility was foreclosed upon last month. maybe not such a good omen. >> i hope that everybody is out there and fired up and knocking on doors. >> earlier he worked the phones at a chicago campaign office to thank volunteers and n neighboring wisconsin. was blissful again as he offered words to his opponent the man he charges not to be trusted. >> i want to say to governor romney, congratulations on a spirited campaign. i know that his supporters are just as engaged and just as enthusiastic and working just as hard today. >> after-school today the president's daughters flew here to chicago with their grandmother. they will have a family dinner at the president's private home as they wonder and wait, i'm told by a senior advisor. they are expecting inside the obama camp, waiting for florida results until 2:00 a.m. they think it's that close. >> bret: ed, thank you. take a look at the closings now. 7:00. you know, this the billboard. but other people can, in fact, use it. closings at 7:00. a number of states. vermont, indiana, kentucky, south carolina, georgia. the big one is virginia. this is really the battleground of battlegrounds. especially early in the night. the counties that were really looking at for president obama and romney and battle going on, right up here. in the suburbs of washington. fairfax county and next door in prince william county. in 2008 in the counties president obama did well against mccain. 61% to 389%. in fairfax. prince william, louden, 54-vi. the president will need to do well there. he has to do well there to run up the vote total and make up for romney strength in south and west of virginia. watching virginia very closely when the polls close. >> well done. >> a state that is critical is virginia. i went for president obama in 2008, but romney needs it. mike emanuel live in richmond. good evening. >> election officials describe turn-out as robust and ahead of 2008 levels. experts predicting the record turn-out in the range of 4 million voters. with long lines across virginia that could be achieved. republican vice presidential nominee paul ryan made one final visit to virginia. the richmond area this afternoon. just hours before the polls close at 7:00 p.m. ryan told campaign staff and volunteers this is are a great effort. they should keep it up. wake up tomorrow morning knowing they did evening they could in virginia. for romney and paul ryan, the path to 270 electoral votes becomes much more difficult if they lose virginia and it's 13 critical electoral votes. so they campaign here like it's critical. clearly not wanting to risk losing a close race. ryan's visit comes after romney made two stops yesterday. vice president joe biden campaigned here as well. those in line at 7:00 p.m. will be allowed to vote, and both sides express confidence that heavy turn-out mean they are getting their people to the polls. >> thank you. >> we'll have chris wallace and his special guest. chris? >> karl rove, architect of george w. bush's victories in 2000, 2004. we don't have the fancy graphics. the guys crunch the numbers. that is what they will do if they were with a candidate in war room on this night. karl, you talk to people all over the country. republican sources. what do you hear? >> this is the most terrible day for concrete information. you have to accept people's anecdotal information about people standing in lines here and not standing in lines there. if we have one county in america, putting the turn-out in the county, on the web, real-time. pasco county in florida, which has been -- >> literally counting it. >> they're not telling you how people voted but florida is partisan registration state. so they are showing what percentage of the voters are -- what number are republicans, democrats and independents have shown up. republicans are polling in excess of 70% of the counties registered republicans voted of 5:00. 60% of democrats and 54% of independents. if you go to pasco county and they will have it online. that is as concrete as we get. >> joe, what are you hearing? >> same thing. talking to chicago and volunteers around the country. anecdotal on both sides about big turn-out. charlottesville and vass. 2008, 14,708 people voted there. it's a college town. today, that is since 4:00 today. 16,000 at 4:00. 2,000 above what happened last year. you are hear the same anecdotes of what karl talked about a bigger republican turn-out. >> conflicting information. at 1:00 p.m., turn-out of charlottesville was 36% of registered voters. by 4:00 they magically showed up. >> folks may wonder why we focus so much on virginia. this goes to something that two of you are talking about last spring. 3-2-1 strategy. six states. that get romney presidency. >> three states historically states that obama carried. ohio and florida, battleground states. that swung republican to democrat in 2008. if romney wins those two then he just needs one other state, anything like new hampshire, pennsylvania, wisconsin, iowa, colorado, nevada, any of those. >> five. >> in the 3-2-1 strategy be virginia is one of the three. if you don't win virginia, how much of a problem? >> they're blocked. that is the strategy -- a lot of the electoral strategy was to block romney in the 3-2-1. can they block him in ohio and win that? can they block him in virginia? if they win virginia or ohio, either one, starts to make it tough. unless some other -- you start to change the strategy. >> quickly, virginia must-win for romney? >> it would be great to win it. historically republican. the opposite strategy is not only focus on 3-2-1 but keep broadening the battlefield. wisconsin, pennsylvania, iowa, colorado, nevada, new hampshire, minnesota. states that come in to play at one time or another. and so you would never want to be only have, one group of states you want as many alternatives as possible. insurance policies if you will. >> so, space cowboys you can stand down for a moment and crumple numbers. calling your sources. bret, it's 3-2-1 or it isn't. >> bret: there you go. very simple. thank you. the time for results is almost here. >> clock is ticking down to 7:00 p.m. eastern time. polls will close in virginia and five other states. just 30 minutes later the critical battleground state of ohio, and north carolina will close. about to get very interesting. >> bret: plus, the ideal is one person one vote. the alternative is well, where things get complicated. up next, when the system does not work. when this special edition of "special report" continues. i know the name of eight princesses. i'm an expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so tosy matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. >> megyn: welcome back to this special edition of america's election headquarters. it's election night. want to give you a look at some of our fancy tools we have going on and the lower third of your screen. we are getting raw vote totals in. the vote, the polls don't officially close in the states until 7:00, some of the polls have already closed. so we can give you a little information on new hampshire, indiana, and kentucky. you'll see those at the bottom of your screen, as we start to get the first reports of the actual vote. we have exit polls from earlier. but now we get the votes in as the polls start close. >> bret: all the states will close at 7:00. that is why we'll be able to give you more then. >> megyn: we do the big reveal. we hope. >> bret: we hope? it's been said we vote, because we're a free people. we are free people because we vote. not everyone plays by the rules. senior correspondent eric shawn in cleveland with a look at problems already reported across the nation. >> reporter: across the country, problem piled up. >> totally confusing for people to find where the polling station is. people may not come to vote. >> reporter: in pennsylvania, the state republican party obtained a court order to get 75 election inspectors inside philadelphia polling stations. they say some were kicked out. and then there was this -- a mural. president obama. watching over voters for hours at one polling place in a school. >> only after complaints was it partially covered up. >> that is something i'd expect maybe in china. or russia. but not united states. that is common sense you don't have, your president behind the polling. >> deputy secretary of the commonwealth shannon royer told fox news, "it's an absolute disgrace. election materials and election nearing inside the polling place are prohibited by state law. this can been interpreted as trying to influence voters inside the polling place. also in philadelphia, one member of the new black panthers party was back. in 2008, another carried a nightstick. but democratic poll watcher stood silently as we tried to get him to talk. >> have you been around a lot today? [ no response ] what is your purpose of being here? >> one election protection group reports receiving 40,000 cause of complaints nationwide. in ohio, these lawyers were handling frauds in the cuyahoga county board of elections where the officials vowed to watch for fraud. >> we ensure that all of our focus son all the details -- focus is on all the details. all the "i"s dotted and "t"s crossed. >> that is eric shawn in cleveland. >> megyn: as we wait for the first results to roll in, including from the battleground state of virginia, both sides claiming the edge. >> we feel confident, we have the votes to win. it will depend whether the voters turn-out. i encourage everybody. on all sides. just to make sure that you exercise this precious right we have. that people fought so hard for us to have. i'm looking forward to the results. i expect that we will have a good night. >> tomorrow we begin the work. >> people are hoping that we see this from the nation's leaders and paul ryan andly do that, we'll get america back on track. i'm so optimistic. not just about the result of the election, but optimistic about what is ahead for america. >> megyn: bring in the panel. brit hume, the senior political analyst. juan williams, columnist with the hill. kirsten powers for the daily beast. steve hayes, senior writer for stand stand. "weekly standard." brit, your thoughts? >> you keep asking me that. >> bret: easy question, brit. not even 7:00. >> i'm not sure knowing more than i did 24 hours ago. i did notice when martha reviewed the exit poll findings that romney was holding up pretty well among households with the government employee. that is important because we have virginia where the polls will close, a critical state for romney. important for the president. and it suggests the possibility at least that in places like articling top county, outside of washington, fair fax county, beyond arlington county. these are the areas that the democrats hope to do well to build up a big margin. if some of the households, government workers there obviously. washington suburbs, right? if romney is holing up well, it would at a minimum hold down the obama edge in that area. that might make a big difference in the outcome of virginia. that is about the best i can do for you. >> megyn: i'll take what i can get. >> bret: juan, you heard karl and joe talking the 3-2-1 strategy. virginia early in the night. paints this picture, but it doesn't seem heading in to today that we were going to be able to call anything, anytime soon. once the polls close. >> no. but what we can say, it seems as if turn-out seems to be up a little bit. everybody is talking about the clogs at the polls and people turning out, the long lines. that is very optimistic i think. i think good news in large part for democrats in many of the close races we see that we see high level of turn-out. the question is, if you have the high level of turn-out, the assumption i'm working on, of course, you get more of president obama's constituencies. minorities, young people, closer to the 2008 model of turn-out. possible you have an highly energized, enthusiastic republican base, evangelicals popping up in larger than expected numbers. >> megyn: kirsten, you look at the exit polls so far they talk about the economy and how important that issue is to so many americans. it seems so far. well, you tell me. put it in perspective. 39% believe the economy got better. but 59% say it's either the same or worse than it was. >> right. i don't think it is a big news flash people are not happy with the way the economy is going. but when you look at the xil polls you see they feel that barack obama is somebody who relates to them, more like them, understands them better. and that he was successful at painting romney as being somebody who has been out of touch rich guy. i would not under estimate that. that is very serious thing. if people feel that mitt romney is somebody who is not going to relate to their suffering and not care about it and maybe take care of rich