we're engaged in a battle for the soul of our nation. >> this is the single most important off-year election. >> i realize how much of a waste it was for me not to vote. >> people ask me is it a wave or tsunami. all these are drops of water. these races are very close. the polls are open for four more hours in an election are high stakes. control of congress is up for grabs and dozens of states are electing governors. good afternoon and thank you for joining us.i'm ama daetz. >> i'm dan ashley. long lines in some areas as people waited to vote. here you're looking at spots in the bay area. first-time voters had support as they walked to the polls. >> it was a busy day at san francisco city hall. inside it was a lot busier. at the time we were there, every booth was occupied. >> san mateo county is one of 35 in the country being monitored

by federal officials to ensure voting rights are protected. here is a live look at one of the voting centers. everyone votes by mail in san mateo county. voters centers are set up for residents to cast their ballots in person or drop them off which is what you're watching here. the lines stretching out the door. millions of californians have already voted. more than 4.4 million californians have mailed in their ballots, far higher than in 2014 which was the last midterm election. >> what's so fascinating in this midterm, the election is bringing out voters in record numbers. in san francisco, election's chief john arnts says the city hasn't seen turnout figures this high since 1974 at least. it's a similar story in contra costa and alameda counties where registrars there reported significant increase in turnout compared to previous midterm elections. >> we have team coverage with reporters all over the bay area and in southern california.

>> we'll be ginn with our david louie with what's expected to be very high turnout. >> reporter: if you want an example of what the turnout will be today, look at this line outside the registrar's office, stretches outside the building for quite a distance, but also stretches indiana side. staff has been telling people in this line they'll take two hours to get into the office. they're in line in a conditional voter registration line. they either registered late to vote and will have to cast their ballots here or have to both register and vote today on the spot. it's going to be a long wait. everyone says they really want to vote. that's why they'll endure the line. a quarter million ball los turned in as of yesterday. 887,000 registered voters in santa clara county. this has been a busy day for phone banks. they have volunteers on the phones urging voters to vote if they haven't done so.

there's also door-to-door can s canvassing done by siren, an immigrant rights group, mobilizing residents in heavily latino neighborhoods in san jose. >> important for our immigrant communities, a lot of our immigrant community members are impacted by rent, the high cost of rent here in our region, health care and a lot of other issues on the ballot. >> the registrar of voters is expecting a turnout of 60% to 70% in santa clara county, much higherer than usual. when we come out and see the long line, you can see people really want to vote. so they're going to endure long lines in order to have that privilege to do so. we ooh el have the first results from santa clara county at 8:01 after the polls close. live in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. >> david, thanks so much. our gubernatorial candidates

gavin newsom and john cox are making their final push for votes today. newsom voted in larks burg, cox last week. abc 7 news reporter dion lim is following the candidates in southern california and is live in los angeles. >> reporter: that's right, dan. we are at exchange l.a., a convert venue and nightclub in downtown los angeles. this is where newsom will have the watch party later tonight. if the poll numbers ring true and he keeps his 16% point lead over john cox, there will be a reason to celebrate later on. california's lieutenant governor was in the bay area this morning and cast his ballot at a masonic lodge with his wife and kids by his side. despite his expected win, newsom wanted to get the message across how important it is for democrats to take back the house. >> being a candidate for governor, winning the governor's race which i hope we're successful tonight, wouldn't mean as much if we don't take

back the house. i don't think it's a gross exaggeration to say trump has declared war on california. we're going to need all the help we can get. that means congressional representatives will have our back. >> the rest of the country is experiencing an economic boom. people in california are working. the average hard working californian is struggling. >> reporter: republican candidate john cox cast his ballot last week. compared to newsom with deep political roots in california, a relative unknown in politics having never held an office, he has failed to gain significant momentum throughout his campaign. one thing both candidates have pushed through these past few days, the importance of voter turnout. we certainly have seen it in los angeles with up to two-hour wait times at some polling places. as of right now for newsom, it's a matter of how much he will win by. live in downtown los angeles, i'm dion lim, abc 7 news.

>> the band warming up behind you, thanks very much. two of the most controversial propositions on the ballot are statewide prop 10 and san francisco's proposition c. want to go to san francisco city hall and vic lee who is following both of these races closely. vic? >> reporter: dan, those are ballot measures that are being closely watched because they're on two very important issues, one of them deals with housing, the other with homelessness. let's start with prop 10. >> prop 10 protects tenants by expanding rent control on residential properties. it repeals the current costa hock kins rental housing act. that law prevents rent control on units built after february 1995. single family homes and condos, however, were exempted. opponents include real estate and landlord groups, both gubernatorial candidates gavin newsom and john cox are against it. opponents argue the housing

crisis will worsen by making housing less affordable and drive up rents. now, san francisco measure c. that levies a half a percent fax on companies with $50 million or mo in gross receipts, money that would go toward funding homeless and mental health projects. this battle pits two tech titans against each other. sales force's mark ben yok has thrown his support and millions behind it saying business has a moral obligation to fight homelessness. against measure krvgs, twitter's jack dorsey, he says the solution to homelessness is better policy. also against it, mayor london breed and state senator scott wein weiner. we will, of course, keep you updated on both those ballot measures tonight. vic lee, abc 7 news. >> vic, thank you so much. now to the race for mayor in oakland.

incumbent libby schaaf is expected to win, however the outcome could be delayed for days. lee ann has >> reporter: mayor shaft left to continue campaigning. she won't be until after 8:00. she is the incumbent and favorite to win. there are nine people running against her. the major contenders are cat brooks, 42-year-old radio host, community activist, well known here in oakland. she, too, was voting this afternoon, and we had a chance to talk to her as well. also in the contention is pamela price, civil rights attorney who ran for alameda county d.a. and lost, and then she decided to run for mayor. if schaaf wins, she will be the first mayor of oakland since

jerry brown to serve two terms. >> i don't take anything for granted. oakland is a feisty city. we're a protest city. you never know what's going to happen in an election. i have tried to work very hard. i'm about to walk out and hit b.a.r.t. stations and busy streets to talk to voters one last time. a lot of people are going to make their decisions on their way home from work tonight. i don't take anything for grant ed. >> reporter: the most pressing issues here in oakland like in so many cities, homelessness, affordable housing and public safety. voters will decide which candidate here in oakland will deliver. lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. if you need a quick primer on the issues on the ballot, kristin zee is here to show you great resources we've put

together. >> that's right. we have a comprehensive voting guide on abc7news.com. it's on the home page. get to the november 2018 elections. what you'll see is this, we have every single state proposition listed. if you click on one of them, not only do you get detailed information, but in the short video you will see the pros and cons, the proponents and opponents on each side explaining the issues. there are also some great meet-the-candidate type of videos we have on many key area races. let's take a look at some of them. let's check out, for example, oakland city council election. you click on that and you will certainly see an announcement from every candidate and their positions on some of the key issues as well. we also have a very cool feature for you. if you care about the national election results here, we'll show you this map. as the results start to come in tonight and start to get populated, you'll be able to get realtime results. let's check out, for example,

state-by-state maps. that's going a little funky on us. you'll see predictions on here as well. you can see we have every state. whichever races you care about, you'll definitely find the most accessible information and the most reliable results here on abc7news.com. >> thank you so much, kristen. share your voting pride, you can post your pictures with your i voted sticker using #abc7now. you might just see them on air or online. our coverage of the 2018 midterms continues. long lines across the nation as people head to the polls in potentially record numbers. up next, facebook's last-minute effort to prevention election interference, but is it enough? >> i'm spencer christian, the sun is setting on another dry mild day in the bay area.

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there were long lines across the country as people headed to the polls. in new york city a little rain didn't keep people away. turnout was so long at one precinct, the line stretched around a junior high school gym. some of the biggest problems were in georgia, a state with a hotly contested gubernatorial election. voters reported waiting up to three hours to vote. federal officials are monitoring voting in 35 county across the county including san mateo county. you can see all the folks here, all registered voters receive a ballot in the mail. but some of them choose to drop them off at these centers or to cast their ballots in person.

there are five california counties that offer this way of voting. >> we believe we're literally pioneers and blazing a trail for other california counties to follow. >> the justice department says there's no suspicion of any irregularities in san mateo county, but they want to ensure voting rights are protected. all 39 centers are open until 8:00 tonight. i am here with a good friend of this program, abc 7 news at 4:00, ian sure, the executive editor of cnet to talk more about the concern of elections and possible tampering. great to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> online voting becoming more and more common, and, of course, that raises new concerns about tampering. we know what happened in the last election, the russian meddling. what are the concerns and how do we mitigate things? >> there are a number of concerns. as we look at doing more digital voting, there's issues around hacking. could the votes actually be

impacted, that's always a concern. there are other concerns. for example, the way the internet works, u you're tracked everywhere you go. we know who you are when you're connected to a computer. the problem with the vote is it's supposed to be anonymous. it's hard to actually set up the systems to work correctly. finally it's getting people to trust the whole system which is very hardment we heard about all this hacking for the last couple years. you think about sony, equifax, why would i want to vote that way? we have to show people through thefts and a lot of work that this can work. >> is it mostly older voters that are more skeptical? >> i would argue if you take a poll of my friends, my news room, everywhere, the more you know about how technology works, the more fearful most people are and how voting online plays out. that's part of the problem, it's hard to trust the system especially because we've had so

many problems like with e-mail and other stuff. >> ian, it is cause to be fearful, i suppose, but it's hard to trust the system, but can you trust the system? >> if i were a betting man, i would say in the next five, ten years, we will be vallejoing from our couches. it's getting those systems in place. we have a story on cnet about how west virginia is testing a voting app. doing it with service members overseas and a couple of other people. if that works and they're able to prove it's reliable, then maybe the next step is we use it more and more. it's going to be very slow. if they do it too fast and it doesn't go well, no one is going to want to do it in the future. >> no doubt it's convenient, especially as busy as we are. there's something lost when you don't show up at the polling place, something quaint and bonding about that experience. >> i will say. i thought about that today. someone pointed out that i voted by mail as well and i didn't get to bring my 2 1/2-year-old to the polling place, but he did

get to watch my wife and i debate the issues while we were filling out the ballots. a new experience. >> facebook blocked another 115 accounts -- facebook and instagram for attempted hacking. a, how big a deal is that? is this much more rampant than we think and, b, will that make a difference? >> absolutely more rampant than you think. that's part of the message we've gotten this whole time. this stuff is unbelievably large, unbelievably broad. facebook is trying to show they're on it. by announcing these takedowns -- they've announced a lot of them. this is not the first. they're trying to show us they're not making the same mistakes they made in 2016 and at the very least that helps us feel better about them, but we have to see some real progress here. >> they certainly don't want to risk anymore government cutdown. >> ian, thanks. let's get over to spencer for a check on our election day weather. >> looking pretty good out there. live doppler 7.

sunny skies across the bay area. another unusually mild day for this time of year and check out the soon-to-be setting sun, under crystal clear skies, 67 degrees in san francisco. 70 in oakland, 73 at mountain view, mid 70s at san jose and morgan hill. 69 at pacifica. looking down onto the pay from mt. tam, a clear view in all directions. 76 in santa rosa, 75 in napa and novato. 78 in vacaville. one more live view at the golden gate. traffic flowing freely. it will be clear and crisp overnight. sunny and mild again tomorrow. a little cooling may take place toward the end of the week. the dry pattern will continue into next week. overnight look for employee skies and generally cool conditions. lows around the bayshore line will be in the upper 40s.

in the north bay lows will drop into the low 40s and ukiah likely to drop to 38 degrees. most inland valleys will see lows in the mid 40s. looking at tomorrow, sunny skies once again. let's skip through this, i want to show you more specifically what each region will have. in the south bay, look for mid to upper 70s. 77 in san jose. 81 in morgan hill. on the peninsula, highs mainly in the mid 70s. in fact, pretty much uniform readings from san mateo to mountain view. mid to upper 60s on the coastment downtown san francisco tapping out at 72 degrees. 73 in south san francisco. 78 in napa tomorrow. east bay we'll find highs of 75 in oakland, 76 in hayward. haywr 80 in most locations. now, this dry, mild and breezy conditions in the higher elevations, a red flag warning in effect from 10:00 tomorrow

night to 7:00 friday morning, once again for the hills and mountains in the bay area, we'll see gusts ranging from 40 to 60 miles per hour. very low humidity, about 8 to 18%. under those conditions fires can ignite and spread rapidly. why don't we go to the seven-day forecast. as i point out earlier, a dry picture for the next seven days. we'll see minor cooling heading toward the weekend. it will still be pretty mild with highs in the mid 70s inland, friday, saturday, sunday. sunday, november 11th, is the actual date of veterans day, but observed on monday. we put the flag up on monday. looks like it will be a nice mild start to the week. >> if it's not going to rain, it may as well be pleasant. >> i agree. up next, first-time voters head to the polls by the hundreds. find out how san francisco let's them cast a ballot even if they

haven't registered. death and tax measures. we'll show you

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it's not unusual to find a polling station at a church or maybe a school. one san francisco location is among probably the weirdest places to vote in the country. it's the san francisco colubarium. it's not just a strange place to vote. it's also a historic place. it's 120 years old and one of the last remaining cemeteries in san francisco. >> i wonder if they feel like people are watching -- >> maybe. >> did you know you can still vote even if you haven't registered. hundreds of people voting today just registered and are conditional voters. >> melly woodrow is live outside city hall with that election

coverage. >> reporter: of the people that have voted here today at san francisco city hall, more than half of them are conditional voters. that means they just registered to vote today. the director of san francisco city elections says he predicts that this will be the highest voter turnout in san francisco city hall in a midterm election since 1974. as of 12:30 this afternoon, approximately 1,200 people voted at san francisco city hall. more than half those people, close to 700 of them are conditional voters. that means they registered to vote today. >> an option people have wanted today. >> reporter: harry carson is one of those conditional voters. he's one of those early 20s and says this is the first election he's ever voted in. >> i went online last night. am i registered, not registered? i came on. i saw you can come here to city hall and register day of. come down, vote. it was great.

very exciting. >> what california is doing is trying to extend the access to the vote to as many people as possible. >> reporter: jason mcdaniel is a political science associate professor at sf state. he says conditional votes and mail-in ballots while good can also mean we won't know results right away. >> because we're making it easier for people to vote, it's possible it will take us some time to know. >> a new dynamic we're experiencing in san francisco and in city hall. >> one conditional voters say they're thrilled about. this is one o of the first statewide general elections with conditional voter registration. >> i was very excited to be able to do it. >> it means a lot. >> reporter: conditional ballots are green instead of blue. several voters proudly showed us theirs today. the direct of sf elections tells me that the turnout here today at san francisco city hall is presidential like as though this were a presidential election. in san francisco, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news.

reports say nearly 5 million californians have already voted by mail. you can check whether your ballot has arrived on california secretary of state's website. simply click on your county and follow the prompts. it takes less than 30 seconds. you can find out if the ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why. we have a link to that website on abc7news.com. coming up next on abc 7 news at 4:00, new information has been released on the deadly shooting at a sonoma county home for veterans early this year. we'll have a live report on the investigation. plus -- the white house knows they are already talking about potential major investigations on capitol hill. >> abc news white house

turning now to the election results, they're starting to pour in. senator bernie sanders has been re-elected in vermont. >> here dieian feinstein is holding her election night party in the presidio. >> kate larsen joins us live. >> we are at the officers club in the presidio. this is the heart of dianne feinstein country. she lives nearby and i'm told

300 of her supporters and staff will be here tonight feinstein won her first election nearly 50 years ago, capturing a seat on the san francisco board of supervisors. now at 85 years old she serves as a senior senator in capitol hill's upper house. a popular incumbent, feinstein, arguably known by every voters in california is tough to beat. her competitors, fellow democrat, kevin know i don't know /* de leon has been closing in after feinstein took a hit during the supreme court hearings. interestingly in this race, some republicans support de leon even though he's more progressive than feinstein. de leon's base among reporters are those who don't like feinstein. senator fine stain is expected to win tonight. i spoke to one of her staffers

who admits to being super stay shows. they're not calling it a celebration, but a watch party. senator feinstein is expected to be here tonight, i'm told, once the first returns come in which should happen around 9:00. that's the latest live in the presidio, kate larsen, abc 7 news. back to you. while the republicans are given better odds for keeping control of the senate, the democrats are given better odds for taking control of the house of representatives. >> far from a sure thing. california may hold the key. kristen sze is here to explain what it would take for the democrats to win the house. >> democrats are cautiously optimistic about gaining control of the house which would give one way to check president trump's power. this is what they need to do. this is the makeup of the house. republicans have 235 seats, democrats 193 and seven are vacant. so democrats need to gain 23 seats. that is the key number for them tonight. let's take a look at -- this is

how the races are shaping up heading into today. this is why democrats are feeling quite optimistic. polling indicates that 194 races are right now solidly democrat while 168 are solidly republican. you can see 73 seats are in play, many of them toss-ups. if democrats get maybe one-third of those in play, they will then capture the house. california is a main battlefield with six districts considered toss-ups. the closest is district ten. the rest in southern california, mostly orange county, where democrats have picked up momentum in previously solidly republican territory. we'll be watching results from these california districts very closely throughout the night as it may very welcome down to california. dan. >> all so fascinating. a white house correspondent

cecelia vega sees a fight no matter what happens. reggie aqui talked with her this morning about what could happen if the democrats take the house. >> i think we'll see a president backed in a corner, by the way, and he'll be furious. the white house knows they're already talking about potential major investigations on capitol hill if democrats win the house tonight. they're talking about subpoenaing family members of president trump, his son-in-law, jared kushner, don junior, his own son, steve bannon, his former adviser. they're already preparing for a major headache from capitol hill. >> if republicans end up keeping the house and the senate, then what? >> i think you're going to see a very emboldened white house, that this will be a confirmation that americans want to see the agenda, the america that donald trump has been projecting. >> even if the president doesn't get his way, if power shifts in the house to the democrats, that doesn't necessarily mean a

certain democratic from the bay area will get a speaker of the house homecoming. >> reporter: the question of nancy pelosi's leadership as potential speaker is at stake. already hearing from democrats on capitol hill who are pushing to not let her take charge of this party. >> cecelia vega with our reggie aki. abc news will have results of the biggest races starting at 5:00 p.m. live local election coverage throughout the evening. then at 11:00 here on abc 7. in other news today, we're learning more about the shooting last march about the veteran home that killed three lives. >> the chp released the timeline of events. >> wayne freedman has the new details. wayne. >> the report has been released to families of the victims who met with the chp this morning. what we got from the chp this afternoon was two paragraphs.

they have a lot of interesting details we hadn't heard before. let's go through video first as we fill in with what we do know. suspect albert wong was a 36-year-old afghanistan veteran, former patient. you may remember, he entered the veterans home at roughly 10:30 in the morning. he took people hostage, held only jennifer gonzalez, jennifer goal lick and christine loafer. today we find out that wong had been infatuated with loever. the deputy engaged the suspect with gunfire. the suspect retreated and the deputy retreated. at that time he heard fatal shots. the last of the shots was the suspect, wong, shooting himself. here is chp golden gate division chiefer any sanchez. >> no deputy bullets struck

anyone inside the room nor did wong's bullets strike anyone outside that room. >> had deputies entered, would that have made a difference in saving the lives of the victims? >> per the coroner's report the victims inside the room died instantaneously. >> yet it took 5 1/2 hours for deputies to enter that building an confirm what had gone on. that was one of the questions at the time. why did it take so long. today the chp says the report spells it out. they did not know at that point for 5 1/2 hours whether wong was killed or whether wong was still dangerous. that's why it took so long to enter the building. the report goes into many more details. the chp says there was a very complicated investigation involving four deaths plus an unborn child as well. we expect more later on. we also expect a statement from the district attorney in napa

county. that's it live from vallejo outside chp headquarters. wayne freedman, abc 7 news. today the marin county sheriff's office identified the man killed in yesterday's shooting at a detox center at 52-year-old nathan lamont hill. investigators say he was killed at the helen vine detox center in san rafael. a man and woman shot in the incident are still in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. the suspect is under arrest. investigators say he was dating the woman who was shot. crews have been working late into the afternoon to put out a smoky fire at a recycling facility at the border of san francisco and business bain. the flames broke out in a building at the recology transport center. it forced one school to close and an air quality alert to go out to neighbors. a spokesman says the building housed construction materials and there are no reports of injuries. up next, the battle over

california's gas tax. the latest on proposition 6. i'm spencer christian. the sun is in its setting mode. sunset about a half hour from now. beautiful weather here. it will continue for a while.

one of the 11 statewide propositions californians are voting on is proposition 6. >> if passed, it would repeal the gas tax which one year ago

was raised by 12 cents a gallon. >> abc 7 news reporter amanda ddel castillo has more. >> reporter: prop 6 is being regarded as one of the more if not most contentious issues on the ballot this midterm election. the big picture, if passed, prop 6 would repeal a recent gas tax of about 12 cents a gallon and would ultimately eliminate certain road repair and transportation funding throughout the state. estimation shows prop 6 would reduce tax revenues by roughly $2.9 billion in 2018 to 2019 and by nearly $5 billion in 2020 to 2021. san francisco, oakland and san jose made the top three list of citi cities, supporters of the tax increase say that money is desperately needed to fix our roads. however, those voting yes on prop 6 say the gas tax funds are

being wasted. misused and not spent appropriately. polls conducted by uc berkeley and stanford showed likely voters rejecting the repeal effort by 13 to 16 percentage points. the public policy institute of california completed a survey that suggests prop 6 will fail in a fairly close vote, and a fourth from usc indicates the race is a dead heat. reporting live along 680 in walnut creek, abc 7 news. we still have weather to talk about. >> we do indeed. spencer christian is back with that. >> you may have heard it's sunny and bright. looking at live doppler 7. a nice mild day overnight. we'll have clear skies and cool conditions generally. chilly in the north bay valleys where lows drop into the low 40s. tomorrow looking for highs under sunny skies for mid 60s at the coast, upper 70s and near 80 inland. here is the accuweather

seven-day forecast. we have more mild dry days coming our way, although there will be minor cooling beginning on thursday and continuing through the weekend. temperatures bounce back a little bit on monday as we observe veterans day. the week starts off next week much like this week did, sunny, bright, dry, mild. >> all right. >> thanks, spencer. it's easier than ever to get to the polls. how you can still get a free or at least a cheap ride to vote. are you planning on celebrating the election with a celebrating the election with a piec at at&t, we believe in access. celebrating the election with a piec the opportunity for everyone to explore a digital world. connecting with the things that matter most. and because nothing keeps us more connected than the internet, we've created access from at&t. california households with at least one resident who receives snap or ssi benefits may qualify for home internet at a discounted rate of $10 a month. no commitment, deposit, or installation fee. visit att.com/accessnow to learn more.

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including the latest movies and box sets from around the world. ( ♪ ) we even have live sports and news channels. ( ♪ ) and your free wi-fi will start shortly. enjoy your flight mr. jones. world's best inflight entertainment. fly emirates. fly better. if there's an election there has to be a party going on at john ice grill. for years it's been a tradition for politicians the gather at the restaurant after a long campaign and before the first votes are counted. the owner caters a free lunch to those attending and that includes complimentary wine. london breed stopped by and was greeted by former mayor willie brown. lieutenant governor candidate also dropped by. >> it's really, really fabulous to come by.

i have my family, my campaign team. we stopped by to say hello. >> organizers say attending the free luncheon is look a good luck charm for the candidates. several companies are making it easy for you to get to the polls. many offering discounts or free rides to your polling police. abc 7's leslie brinkley is live in oakland outside the registrar's office. >> reporter: there's been a steady stream of cars here all day. this is the drive-through lane. if you didn't vote absentee or don't have a car, not to worry. there are lots of options. helen mitchell was waiting all day in her chrysler town and country in her driveway, ready to give a ride to anyone who saw her free offer on facebook. >> i know how important it is to vote. it's very important. sometimes people don't have transportation to get there. every vote counts.

>> reporter: she vowed to be on standby until 8:00 p.m. another way to hitch a ride is using a ride share. uber offering $10 off, lyft 50% off in underserved communities, or there are free rides to be had on the ford go bike app or online. nothing beats a free scooter ride to the polls on a nice day. everyone looked happy at this new mode of transit called scoot to vote. >> they did a promotion today, so it was a free scoot here and home for voting. >> i'd say use public transit or take your bike. it's really quick and easy. you don't have to worry about parking, circle the block five times. >> looks like you did it the old fashioned way. >> i walked. by any means necessary. >> there's buses, trains. get down here. it's important. >> reporter: it's a nice day to walk to the polls. >> it's a great day. >> reporter: a nice day to be out here. i'll wuk with you. so not many excuses for not

getting to the polls in 2018. in oakland, leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. polls close at 8:00 tonight. that gives you a little more than three hours to get there if you have a vote by mail ballot, you can drop it off at any polling place and mail it as long as it's postmarked today and received by friday. most mail-in ballots need extra postage and don't forget to sign the back of the envelope. on to consumer news, if you have cake mix in your cupboard, you want to check it. >> duncan hines announced a major recall, more than 2 million cake mixes may be contaminated with salmonella. >> the cake mix giant is recalling 2.4 million boxes of the most popular flavors. it received five reports of sal m nell la. it recalled covered classic white, classic yellow, butter

golden and confetti cake mixes. all affected boxes have a best by date of march 7 through 2019. those who got sick may have consumed some raw cake better. the company advises don't lick the bowl or eat any unbaked mix. anyone with a recalled mix can return it to the store where you brought it for a full refund. if you're tired of receiving those scam many row bow calls and who isn't on your cell phone, the fcc says it's tired of it, too. the federal communications commission sent letters to 14 tech companies asking for help in tracking down who is making the illegal calls. the fcc says scammers are buying voice over internet phone numbers that appear to come from a local area code. victims are more likely to pick up a call if it seems to be local. the fcc wants companies to develop trace-back technology

that can locate the real culprits. the fcc can then prosecute, it says, even if the violators are overseas. todays letters went out to companies ranging from google to sprint and at&t. southwest airlines is expanding service in california and a couple of other states. the airline is adding new routes to san jose international airport. the most important one to tucson, arizona. also adding more daily flights on existing routes from san jose to orange county and portland. it will offer more flights from long beach to sacramento and las vegas. it is a big day for some young voters. >> there's definitely more of an awareness of what is going on. >> the teens getting their first chance ever to vote and putting a lot of effort into it.

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p.m., it's your voice, your vote election coverage followed by abc 7 news at 11:00. today's episodes of "jeopardy" and "wheel of fortune" will air at their usual time tomorrow. a very big election day, particularly for people casting their votes for the very first time. >> to make it special, some students had some company to walk them to the polls. >> abc 7's chris nguyen is live with the story. >> reporter: dana and ama, nationwide some students walked out of class today. others got permission from their teachers to head down to the polls. there's been a lot of talk about the youth vote this election cycle, whether or not that will translate into action at the polls remains to be scene. across the bay area, many young people are casting their very first ballot. >> i had a great time researching the different propositions and candidates. >> reporter: educators say the future is now. >> whether it's social media,

discussions in the classroom, definitely more of an awareness of what's going on and hopefully the impact they can have in this process. >> reporter: in san francisco some students walked out of class today to head to the polls. at uc berkeley students threw a party to encourage others to exercise their right to vote. a recent voter drive aimed at young people registered more than 1,000 new voters. some say it's important to have an open mind. >> we should listen to both sides. something we should do in today's political climate. >> reporter: this freshman also voted for the first time. >> you wait 18 years to be able to vote. you have a chance to say your voice and be a part of it. >> seeing a lot more engagement across the board, republican, democrat, old, young. overall we'll see a much higher turnout. >> a civic dupity that will hopefully become a habit. >> it's amazing in a democratic

society we can all come out and make an impact. >> reporter: a lot of people will be keeping a clos eye on the number of young people who choose to vote today, especially as we look ahead to the 2020 presidential election. live in the south bay, chris nguyen, abc 7 news. even google is encouraging americans to vote. the google doodle today reads go vote. if you click on it, you can type in your address to find your polling place. the trending searches are most about voting, where to vote to people looking up information about proposition as well as candidates. >> you can still do last-minute search on all the things that matter to you. we have all the information on abc7news.com/election. you can get results with the abc 7 news app. download the app and get alerts sent right to your phone as key results come in through out the evening. for now, thank you for

joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00. i'm ama daetz. >> i'm good evening, it's 8:00 in the east. polls have closed in half the country. this is the 2018 midterm election. >> live from new york city and across the country, this is abc news election night 2018. now reporting, george stephanopoulos. >> good evening. and welcome to election night 2018. just two years after donald trump shocked the world by winning the white house, americans are back at the polls. already voting in record numbers for what could be the most consequential midterm election of mod tern times. control of congress, the course of the trump presidency, our country's future all at stake. we're here in new york, our political team in the studio. reporters across the country in key battleground states to track th