After a couple hour delay, King County finally reported an additional 52,000 or so ballots today that largely didn't change anything. Compared to last night's count, today's ballots appear to be trending slightly more Republican, though not all the counties that will report have reported, so I've yet to run the numbers through my spreadsheet. For the moment, Jay Inslee and R-74 still lead by similar margins as last night.

The bigger news though is the turnout. King County Elections estimates that it has received about 985,000 ballots so far, about an 84 percent turnout. If past experience is any guide, there are still about another 25,000 ballots in the mail. That could push turnout up over 86 percent. No idea yet on how this compares to the rest of the state.

UPDATE: All the counties that will report today have reported today, and today's batch did trend slightly toward Rob McKenna. Inslee now leads with 51.16 percent of the vote and 48,766 vote margin, down from 51.32 percent and a 50,209 vote margin last night. A caveat, though: Due to King County's lower than expected ballot report today, King County makes up a significantly smaller percentage of today's new ballots statewide: Only 24.7 percent today of the ballots counted today compared to 28.6 percent of those reported last night. King County has 30 percent of registered voters statewide, so today's trend isn't enough to suggest a late McKenna surge.

On the other hand, Referendum 74 actually expanded its lead, from 51.79 percent and a 68,111 vote margin last night to 51.96 percent and a 82,698 vote margin today. So R-74's sponsor should remain perfectly comfortable in declaring victory.

More analysis later.

Now that Washington State voters have passed Initiative 502 to legalize marijuana, Sergeant Sean Whitcomb, a spokesman for the Seattle Police Department, says this: "For us, the law has changed, and people can expect no enforcement for possession." The law takes effect on December 6.

To put Whitcomb's comments in context, check out the post I wrote earlier today about I-502; prosecutors explained that they wouldn't be charging pot possession cases starting on December 6, and the city attorney said there's nothing the feds could do about the state's new possession law.

Still, Whitcomb acknowledges that implementing legalization is uncharted territory, particularly portions of the law that deal with licensing growers, distributors, and sellers. "It is complicated because state law is now in contrast to federal law," he says. "We are in this gray area right now where we are going to be looking for some immediate guidance from the Washington State Attorney General's Office," which is run by Republican Rob McKenna (at least for the next two months).

But he reiterates: "What you can expect is no enforcement on possession—that is a reasonable expectation."

The Washington State Liquor Control Board will now begin a rule-making process for potential marijuana businesses that will last at least one year. Whitcomb reminds people that, until then, selling pot remains illegal. "There are some people who think this is going to be de facto legal everything," he says, "and that is just not correct."

You can stop refreshing the King County Election results page now. They're not going to post the next drop at 4:30 p.m. as scheduled:

Sucks to be doing the 5 o' clock news, Essex.

That Unskewed Polls Guy:

Chambers' method of "unskewing" polls involved re-weighting the sample to match what he believed the electorate would look like, in terms of party identification. He thought the electorate would lean more Republican when mainstream pollsters routinely found samples that leaned Democratic.

But as it turned out, the pollsters were right — self-identified Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 6% in election exit polls.

"I think it was much more in the Democratic direction than most people predicted," Chambers said. "But those assumptions — my assumptions — were wrong."

Dick Morris:

The key reason for my bum prediction is that I mistakenly believed that the 2008 surge in black, Latino, and young voter turnout would recede in 2012 to “normal” levels. Didn’t happen. These high levels of minority and young voter participation are here to stay. And, with them, a permanent reshaping of our nation’s politics.

Glad to see these schmucks owning up to their errors. Has Karl Rove pulled his thumb out of his mouth long enough to apologize for his election night snit-fit yet?

Did you see how happy these people were this morning? Now look at how happy these folks were, at the party for Washington’s Initiative 502 at Hotel Andra last night. Holy pot smokin' shit!

• Victoria Holt

More party photos after the jump...

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CNN says:

In an overshadowed Election Day contest, Puerto Ricans voted in favor of statehood in a nonbinding referendum, marking the first time such an initiative garnered a majority.

Puerto Ricans were asked about their desires in two parts. First, by a 54% to 46% margin, voters rejected their current status as a U.S. commonwealth. In a separate question, 61% chose statehood as the alternative, compared with 33% for the semi-autonomous "sovereign free association" and 6% for outright independence

It's way more complex than that, of course—our relationship with Puerto Rico is nothing if not complex—and it obviously doesn't guarantee statehood at all. But it does indicate that our relationship with Puerto Rico is due for serious reassessment. What do you think?

Okay, okay: I'm just going to put up one more schadenfreude post and then I promise it's back to work. Over at The Corner, John J. Miller writes, "So, it’s pretty clear that Chris Christie won’t be the GOP nominee in 2016, right?"

What follows in the comments is an amazing display of conservative self-torture one-upmanship. Seriously, it's like a masturbatory, conservative 50 Shades of Grey:

I'd rather vote Ron Paul, and I think Ron Paul is a loon. I'd rather walk through fire. I'd rather not eat for two weeks. I'd rather go skydiving without a parachute.

Yes. Yes I would vote for Ron Paul before Christie too. In fact, I would walk through that fire with you to vote for Paul before I supported Christie.

I would carry the two of you on my back through burning broken glass for this exercise.

To add to the totally justified hyperbole: I would rather nail my hand to a burning building than vote for Christie.

Here at Stranger HQ, the cheap champagne is flowing, there's QFC pie and Cool Whip on the table, and we're engaging in some hard-earned gloating about the happy state of marriage, pot, and our other favorite pet issue, Republican Rob McKenna.

Specifically, we're wondering what McKenna ate for breakfast on this fine fall morning—a morning that brings him one step closer to his eventual gubernatorial defeat? Did he fortify his belly with a hearty breakfast of Stranger hack journalists, as his charming daughter and campaign worker Madeleine McKenna once suggested? Or did he stick to a simpler diet of imported jam on sourdough toast?

We can only drink more and speculate. So we must, and wildly!!!

"You know, Romney will still have a good life."

Washington State voters legalized marijuana last night. It was not just a gesture. It was not simply a statement.

Short version: You can legally possess up to an ounce of pot starting on December 6, and the city's prosecutor says there's nothing the feds can do about it.

Full version: By passing Initiative 502, we triggered a complex process to, for the first time in US history, create an above-board marijuana market, but put that out of your head for just a second. All that stuff will be hashed out in the next few years. (The regulations could potentially create a conflict with federal law—many say it doesn't create a conflict with federal law, and others say it does—but that has no bearing on the most important aspect of this law.) Here's what you need to know now. Starting on December 6, I-502's "Section 20" takes unequivocal effect:

The possession, by a person twenty-one years of age or older, of useable marijuana or marijuana-infused products in amounts that do not exceed those set forth in section 15(3) of this act is not a violation of this section, this chapter, or any other provision of Washington state law.

What this means is that in one month, adults 21 and older can legally possess up to one ounce of bud, 16 ounces of solid-form marijuana food products, and 72 ounces of cannabis in liquid form (such as lotions or, like, a shocking volume of hash oil). You can also have pot paraphernalia.

This portion of the law, says Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, who is both a prosecutor and a co-sponsor of the initiative, "is simply not preemptable." In other words, Holmes is saying that feds may challenge the licensing and the stores—but not the possession portion. Furthermore, "The feds cannot make the state criminalize that kind of conduct," he says.

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Red State commenter Sybile was nice enough to aggregate many of Red State's most egregious Romney win predictions into a single post. Let's take a look at some of those, shall we?

"THIS is What the Unhinged Left Looks Like on the Eve of an Historic Election Loss"

Yes…that’s right…the “great” Paul Krugman, writing for the New York Times, is calling anyone who thinks the election doesn’t currently reflect an impending Obama blowout STUPID.

And who does Krugman cite in defending his oh-so-brilliant assertion? Why it’s none other than fellow left-wing pundit, Daily Kos blogger and poll cherry-picker, Nate Silver.

In other words, according to an Obama acolyte relying on the prediction of another, Obama is winning big…and anyone who doesn’t recognize this is…STUPID.

"The Tea Party’s Quiet, Formidable Force Will Upset The Election…Again"

Some foolishly think the Tea Party has disappeared. That it was nothing more than a temporary flash in the pan. Nothing more than a way for frustrated Americans to ventilate their grievances and move on. But they are so wrong....If I had to say where I think we are in terms of winning this war, I would wager that we may be about a fourth to a half of the way there.

I’m looking forward to the election next week. It is one of the most substantive ways we measure our progress.

"Despite what the polls say, Mitt Romney will win by double digits… here’s why"

1. Race...many whites will not tell pollsters they are voting against Barack Obama for fear of being labeled a racist...2. Enthusiasm: The overwhelming majority of polls that have been run over this election cycle have greatly oversampled Democrats while simultaneously undersampling Republicans...3. Hurricane Sandy: The aftermath of hurricane Sandy will not be good for Barack Obama...4. Undecided voters

There are so many more, including:

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