Obama Surpasses 66 Million Vote Mark

The latest count of the national popular vote now puts Senator Barack Obama just past the 66 million vote mark. This is far more votes cast for any candidate for president in the history of the United States and only the second time since 1976 that a Democratic candidate for president has garnered more than 50% of the vote.

Most government offices are likely closed in honor of Veteran's Day today, so few more national ballots will be counted by election offices. However, the final vote figures should soon be made official as well as a call on the state of Missouri which John McCain should finally edge out by about 5,000 votes. The senate race in Minnesota still remains too close to call, however it is likely that Republican Senator Norm Coleman has just edged out former Saturday Night Live comic and writer Al Franken by just over 200 votes unless a state required recount or any ballots not previously counted emerge to change that outcome, which seems sort of unlikely.

The latest vote count as of last evening puts Senator Barack Obama well ahead with 66,056,046 votes compared to 57,838,800 for Senator John McCain. And additional 1% of the vote is scattered to minor party candidates such as Independent candidate Ralph Nader and Green Party Candidate Cynthia McKinney and others.