in just a few seconds, polls open in virginia. voters among the first in the nation to cast ballots, and every vote could be critical in the toss-up states. >> the candidates fighting for votes until the very end. even as the polls open, the campaigning continues in a somewhat unusual move. republican candidate mitt romney holding campaign events today in ohio and pennsylvania. the race for the white house takes top billing, but local ballots will be crowded with deviivisive issues and somewhat confusing questions this morning. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today" on election day, november 6th. >> you will want to bundle up in case you get stuck outside. temperatures plunged. 20s, 30s, all throughout the area. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here to break it down. good weather for voting on this election day, 2012. thankfully, we don't have a lot of wind because it is freezing cold all around the region.

those areas with aittle bit of laughter in western maryland and west virginia, down into the upper teens. el kins now at just 20 degrees. elsewhere, the dark blue areas in the 20s. that includes just about all of maryland, all of virginia. the only places above freezing are right near the bay waters and right along the tidal potomac. reagan national at 35. we have just a few clouds drifting through this morning. thankfully, we have a light wind. as we get through the rest of the day today, hour by hour, we'll still not have much wind thankfully, but by 8:00, still at or below freezing much of the area with sunshine. and then mostly sunny the rest of the daylight hours. by midafternoon, ought to hit the 40s. by late afternoon, right down to the low 40s. i'm back in ten minutes with a hometown forecast. a look at the first 4 traffic this election day morning with danella. good morning. >> good morning, tom. checking on the accident along route 1 richmond highway with an update. one lane gets by. going to be the left lane in

both directions at central avenue. fire department as well as police still on the scene of the crash there. let's head over this time to eastbound. this is route 175 annapolis road at bw parkway. crash ther please use caution as you travel the roads. good news on the beltway, taking the inner loop between i-95 and i-270. nice and clear. here's a live look at connecticut avenue. just a little more volume on the outer loop. no major delays just yet. ten minutes to get from i-95 to i-270 on the outer loop of the beltway. i'm back in ten. aaron, over to you. >> danella, thank you. 18 months of debates, ads, attacks, election day is finally here. the presidential campaign, the parties, and the groups that support them have spent more than $1 billion. potential voters have seen more than 1 million ads on tv in just five months. that is 40% more than what we saw in 2008, this election could all come down to virginia. some election models have both

candidates winning certain states. that would mean the commonwealth and its 13 electoral college votes could decide the 2012 race. polls in virginia are now open, but residents in one new hampshire town have already cast their ballots. dixville notch kept an election day tradition alive by casting votes at midnight. it may be a while before we know who wins the election. president obama and mitt romney split the town's ten votes. lines already forming at some polling locations. news 4's megan mcgrath live in alexandria. lots of company because these folks are dealing with hot races in the commonwealth. >> reporter: absolutely. i would say we've got a couple of hundred people. they got here at 4:30 in the morning. this guy came about ten minutes ago. why come early? were you concerned about the lines later today? >> i have to get to work today, but i think it's very, very important the citizens get out

and vote. it's our one chance to vote on how the future of our country is going to be. it's important we all get out here and do it. >> reporter: are you impressed or surprised? what do you think of the line? there's a couple of hundred people here. >> this is my first time actually voting in person. i retired from the military last year. this is a new experience for me. >> reporter: and the line just moved. you've got to go vote. thanks for joining us. you can see a lot of enthusiasm here this morning. virginia is one of the battleground states. president obama won the old dominion four years ago, but mitt romney has been pressing hard. it's really unclear who's going to take virginia. the latest poll has president obama ahead by one point. that is well within the margin of error. who will win? that will likely depend on the campaign organizations and who can turn out that base vote here today. now, there's, of course, another big race here in virginia. the u.s. senate race. it's a hotly contested race. two familiar faces there. both former governors here in virginia. democrat tim kaine and republican george allen.

allen previously held the seat, but he lost jim webb back in 2006. webb is retiring, and actually we're expecting george allen to come here later on this morning to cast a ballot here at this location in alexandria. the polls open in virginia at 6:00. you can see there's quite a bit of interest here. folks wanting to get to the polls early to cast their ballot before they went off to work. we're expecting a steady stream of people all day long. the polls in virginia stay open until 7:00 tonight. reporting live in alexandria, megan mcgrath, news 4. there are other interesting senate races around the country. in missouri, democrat claire mcaskill looking to stay in office ahead of republican todd akin. republican scott brown hopes to hold his seat against challenger elizabeth warren. and rick mann is battling chris murphy for a senate seat in connecticut. tens of thousands of people are

still without power because of hurricane sandy. here's what you need to know before you head out to the polls this morning. voters in virginia and some first time voters in maryland will be required to show some form of identification. there are at least 30 forms of valid i.d. including an i.d. card from your employer. does not have to be a photo i.d. poll opening and closing times vary from state to state. new reports of voter fraud in critical battleground states this morning. voting rights advocates say robocalls are incorrectly telling voters they can cast ballots over the phones. those fake phone calls, some of which involve live callers, are being made primarily to black voters. the calls are also cropping up in north carolina and florida. the news 4 i-team is monitoring any voting problem you find at the polls today. call the i-team tip line at

202-8 202-885-4444. it is coming up on 6:07 right now. information to take to heart for some people who rely on daily multivitamins.

6:10. check out the gorgeous glimpse of the sun on the horizon. earlier sunlight time. enjoy it. >> 36 degrees right now. you will have to deal with the cold out there. time for weather and traffic on the ones. here's storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. >> good morning. sunrise about a half hour away. reagan national on the warm waters of the potomac is at 35.

that's the warm spot. we have a gentle breeze thankfully at 5 miles an hour. elsewhere it's in the 20s. here's the hometown forecast for morningside, prince george's county by 8:00, 8:30 this morning. still hovering around the freezing mark with a few clouds in and out. partly cloudy to sunny by the lunch hour. by then, the mid-40s. here's the hour by hour forecast for the whole region. this morning we'll stay at or below freezing for maybe another hour or two. and then by noontime, mid-40s. upper 40s midafternoon for the entire region. by late afternoon, back down to the low 40s. coming up at 6:21, i'll show you my latest forecast for the coastal storm. what it may do to us. we'll look at the seven day outlook in ten minutes. danella, how's traffic? >> many to, i'm checking the rails. if you're checking the marc train, slowing you down on the penn north train 554 a 17-minute delay. and penn south 407 just a

10-minute delay. over to the roads, the earlier crash 175 annapolis road at bw parkway, that accident cleared. still dealing with a situation in gainesville involving a tractor-trailer accident and hazmat cleanup. prince william parkway closed both directions between balls ford road. step on sudley instead as your alternate road. heading over to richmond highway at central avenue, still have just the left lane getting by in both directions while crews work to clean up that accident. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> danella, thank you. 6:12 is our time. right after this, we're breaking down some of the questions you'll see when you enter the voting booth. what you should know before heading to the polls. and people already voting in virginia. they lined up overnight to be the first to cast ballots.

anncr: it's said that character is what we do... when we think no one is looking. mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

i'm melissa mollet at the live desk with breaking news. we're just getting information that one person has been killed and another three people hurt after an explosion at a hospital in durham, north carolina. the explosion happened at durham regional hospital on the sixth floor, we understand, which is considered a specialty treatment unit. once we get more information, we'll pass it along. at the live desk, melissa mollet, news 4. breaking news. in iraq now, a car bomb killed at least 27 and wounded dozens at a military base north of baghdad.

19 of the 27 killed were iraqi troops. the blast occurred as they were leaving the base. there are three major referendum questions on maryland's ballot today. we want to make sure you know exactly what the questions are. here's questions four, six, and seven. we're going to start with question seven on expanded gambling. two things you want to be thinking about. first, do you think the state's casinos should be allowed to have table games? quite simply, that is the question. question number two, do you think a casino should be built in prince george's county, raising the number in the state from five to six? you answer both questions at the same time. then there is the next question six on the same-sex marriage issue. it's already been passed into law, but it needs approval from voters to be fully enacted. here you are either for or against the law. a couple of quick details. the law allows gay and lesbian

couples to get a marriage license and allows religious institutions to decide if they'll perform religious ceremonies for those couples. and finally question four for the d.r.e.a.m. act. it makes illegal immigrants eligible for in-state tuition at community or four-year colleges provided they meet certain criteria, which includes paying taxes, applying to become a permanent resident, and completing credit hours. many election analysts say republican roscoe bartlett is one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the nation. redistricting this summer weighed his district in favor of the democrats. he is running against newcomer john delanie. in the senate ben carden is running for a second term. he's expected to win. >> d.c. delegate eleanor holmes-norton will also find out if she'll get to continue

representing the district in congress. she's running against a libertarian and a member of the green party. she's served as d.c.'s nonvoting delegate for ten terms. in 15 minutes, what else voters in the district need to know and the bills up for a vote to help clean up city government. you know that "i voted" sticker you get at the polls can get you pretty sweet deals. wear it to participating einstein brothers, and you can get a free bagel and schmear. that's another term for cream cheese, apparently. also, california tortilla is another place that will give you a free at that toe for donning your "i voted" sticker today. also, wear it to z-burger, and you'll get a free burger. if you don't have the sticker, just say z-vote. surprising news for men this morning. taking a multivitamin may not do anything to help your heart. that's according to a new study by brigham and women's hospital in boston.

researchers followed 14,000 male doctors for over a decade. half took multivitamins. after the study, those men showed no difference in the rate of heart disease. the men who took multivitamins did, however, have an 8% lower rate of cancer than those who did not take the vitamins. it won't cost you a wing and a leg to buy your thanksgiving turkey. that's because retailers locked in their costs before the drought drove up feed prices. cold frozen turkeys were selling for $1.62 a pound in september. up from $1.57 a pound two years ago. retailers are determined to keep prices for the traditional thanksgiving main course as low as possible even though sky high corn prices have nearly doubled the cost of producing a pound of turkey this year. starting today, it's going to cost you big bucks to have bags on your spirit airlines flight. the airline is going to charge $100 for passengers to check their bags at the gate.

spirit is known to charge $35 for a checked bag. that's a lot. >> throw it over your shoulder. >> makes it quicker to get through security as well. 6:20 is our time. we are dealing with just straight out cold. it's cold out there. >> feels like winter. meteorologist tom kierein is here with the forecast. >> that sunrise behind you is warming my heart. beautiful sunrise under way this morning. yeah, it is freezing cold. it in fact, it is the first widespread freeze of the season. most areas below freezing in the 20s all across virginia, all across most of maryland. right near the waters, it's a little bit above freezing. shenandoah valley into the mountains, many locations low 20s. maybe a few isolated spots in west virginia in the upper teens this morning. we have just a few high clouds drifting over us. those will drift off to the east. we'll have plenty of sunshine throughout the rest of the day. going forward here all the way into tomorrow, coastal low pressure developing. looks like now it's going to

track farther east than it's been looking the last couple of days. rain, though, on the eastern shore by dawn tomorrow. by perhaps noontime, maybe a little wet snow just to the east of i-95 in this lavender zone. that may spread farther east as colder air gets drawn into it. blustery winds along the coast at 50 miles an hour. inland here along the metro area, looks like we're mostly going to be dry tomorrow based on the latest track of the storm. as a result, we maybe have a few wet snowflakes, few wet sprinkles of chilly rain tomorrow afternoon into tomorrow evening. after that, sunshine back. beautiful day for voting today. chilly, though, but as the sun comes back thursday into the weekend, we're going to have a rm warming trend that might get up around 60 saturday, sunday, and monday. i'll be back in ten minutes on the weather deck. danella is here with traffic. >> good morning. checking your first 4 traffic. still seeing delays on the marc because of a signal problem. if you're traveling penn north 554, you're at a 30-minute delay. penn south 407, you're at an

11-minute delay. taking metro, vre, no reported delays. let's head over to 66 as you make your way eastbound towards the beltway. still seeing accident activity just in the left shoulder lane. travel speeds from fairfax county parkway to the beltway, not bad at all. 58 miles per hour, looking like an 11-minute drive. heading out from haymarket eastbound just slow as you make your way eastbound towards the bypass. delays continue to centerville road. good news in montgomery county. if you're traveling along 29 in montgomery county, making your way southbound and northbound nice and clear. as you head in between east randolph road and the beltway, no issues to report. aaron and eun, back over to you. 6:22. 36 degrees. ahead, where and when local voters may bump into maryland's governor. next a minor miscalculation.

"and what's your name?" "oh, it's flo." "and what do you do?" "oh, i sell insurance like no one else." "oh, that's nice." "thank you." now, that's progressive. call or click today.

d.c. police say they caught

a suspect who left his cell phone at the scene. they arrested demarco myles on sunday. he wrote his cell phone number down for a student to call him later. he also admitted to acan ttacki woman at the rhode island row complex last month. metro is apologizing for a little snafu. when they set their clocks back over the weekend, trains stopped running an hour earlier than they were supposed to because of a time change for daylight savings. that left a lot of folks out in the cold with no way to get home. metro issued a statement apologizing to customers for the inconvenience. it is now 6:26, 37 degrees. the question being put to local voters inspired by a disgraced former law maker.

one candidate is still holding campaign events even as voters head to the polls. >> and you've seen the ads. had your mil box closed more for the vote today than gambling and same-sex marriage. some of the others we'll have to answer for today. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm eun yang. >> welcome to decision 2012. it is finally here. tuesday, november 6t election day. >> before you get out the vote, you'll want to do something else. get out the coat. freezing temperatures await you. overnight, we fell into the 20s. feels like a december morning. hats and gloves already. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein on the weather deck. brr, it is cold out there. >> the only thing moving is my mouth. it is so cold out here. i can barely look up. there's the moon.

gorgeous half moon in the sky. it's cold. thankfully, we have a light wind. although we'll be talking about windchills in the teens. right now it's in the 20 throughout much of the region. we've had just a few clouds passing over. we have the widespread freeze, first one of the season. all these areas in blue are down below freezing. that includes all of west virginia, all of maryland, all of virginia except right near the waters where it's in the mid-30s. locally around the beltway, upper 20s to near 30. prince george's, arlington, fairfax, and montgomery county. hour by hour throughout the day, not much wind but great for getting out the vote. we'll be in the 40s by midafternoon. sunrise 6:41. sunset just past 5:00. i'll be back in ten minutes with a hometown forecast. danella, how's traffic? tom, much warmer in here. get indoors. checking on i-270. making your way southbound, here's your delays. slow from urbana at 80.

these days continue to clarksburg road. in germantown clear, and in gaithersburg, you are seeing volume increase but no major delays just yet. from shady grove connecting to the beltway, no issues there. on the beltway, a live look as you make your way on the inner loop of the beltway, i-270 to i-95, 61 miles per hour. that drive is going to take you about ten minutes. speaking of ten minutes, we're going to look at i-95 in virginia and talk travel speeds in ten minutes. voters in maryland have a lot of decisions to make today, not only for who will represent them, but for important issues in the old line state. news 4's tony tull is live in prince george's county with a look at some of the ballot questions. tony, good morning. >> reporter: eun, good morning. we have seven. three are extremely important that we're going to talk about. i want to give you a live look at the broad creek room in prince george's county. the line has moved inside. we can talk about those cold temps all morning long. these folks got the doors open a little early, and they were able to get inside.

you see lots of people headed down the hallway here. miss shar mamaine, you were hert what time? >> 4:00. 4:00 a.m. >> reporter: you're not messing around this morning? >> no. i'm on a miss. want to get my vote in and get on in to work. >> reporter: eun and aaron, like i said, the lines are going to be long. you guys have been talking about it all morning. no shortage of entertainment. mr. ellerby, you are kind of holding down the crowd. >> yes, i'm sitting here waiting and enjoying myself, talking with my neighbors and new people that i meet and just waiting to vote. >> reporter: how important is it that people get out and vote? >> it's a privilege and an honor because this country has to learn that we're not the only country in the world, and we've got to learn how to lead. if we want to be the top country, there's a way to lead.

you can't always go to war and fight all the time. >> reporter: mr. ellerby, appreciate your time. eun, those questions we're talking about, seven in total, three very important we want to touch on. first one, question four. the maryland d.r.e.a.m. act. back in 2007, senate bill 161 passed allowing undocumented students to pay in-state college tuition if they attend high school in maryland and their parents file action at thats. second is question six, civil marriage protection act. it allows gays and lesbians to marry. governor e mao'malley passed it but it's on the ballot today. the last question seven will allow table gaming in maryland. and an additional casino to be put up in prince george's county. we're waiting for the county executive baker to encourage voters here in prince george's county. that's the latest.

back to you guys. >> tony, thank you. maryland governor martin o'malley will visit several polling locations. at 8:30, he'll stop at the kettering baptist church in upper marlboro. then he'll visit with voters at the silver spring civic building. o'malley already cast his vote on wednesday. you know about question four, six, and seven on the maryland ballot. another question inspired by a corruption scandal in prince george's county. question three sper headeded by prince george's county leslie ivy after leslie johnson was convicted in a corruption scandal involving her husband jack johnson. she first refused to step down from office. she eventually did step down and plead guilty to the charges. if the question passes, a politician will be suspended from office the moment he or she is found guilty and is automatically removed when the appeals process is finished. a special election to fill the d.c. council chair seat for

kwame brown. brown resigned in june after admitting he gave false information on an application to receive two bank loans worth $200,000. voters will cast for d.c. council member philip mendelson or challenger alvin gurley. it will complete brown's term in 2013. another election will take place in 2014. and question five asks voters if the d.c. council should have the power to expel a member for gross misconduct. the counsel would have to have five-sixths of a majority to do so. anyone convicted of a felony serving as a d.c. council member would be required to leave office and prevent them from serving in office ever again. question seven would apply the same penalties to the city's mayor. good morning. a hospital in north carolina now operating normally after a fire that killed one patient and injured three more. they're calling out for an

explosion early this morning at durham regional hospital. the hospital sprinkler system as well as the staff ended up putting that fire out. we understand it happened on the sixth floor with a specialty treatment area and three beds. more details as we get them. at the live desk, melissa mollet, news 4. 37 degds. ahead, why some stocks may see a big bounce as soon as the race for the white house is decided. ♪

[ male announcer ] tuesday, early, election day in the united states of america. our moment to make a choice. to bring jobs back.

to make the economy, the american economy again. to find someone to lead. to lead us to a better future. the choice, now, the most important vote of our lives. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. welcome back. take a look at this unbelievable

video from north texas. a single engine plane clips the top of an suv as it's about to land. take a look right there. everybody involved in the accident is okay. a flight instructor who works out of the airport says both the driver and the pilot are to blame. the driver did not follow a stop sign, and the pilot was coming in too low. >> i think it probably should be marked. obviously, they knew they were going to the airport. that was the attraction for them to come out here. they should have looked before they crossed the runway. he's looking on down the runway a little too low on his approach. i think he should have been a little higher on the approach. >> the owner of the airport is working with the faa and the national transportation safety board on possible safety recommendations. >> don't want that to happen. too close for comfort. >> i think the pilot said he's not flying again either. 6:41. take a look at the forecast with weather and traffic on the ones. >> i was only outside for about five minutes, but it is a cold, cold air mass you'll be greeted by when you step out the door. my hands are still cold.

we have temperatures down into the 20s most of the region. the first widespread hard freeze we've had this season. right near the bay waters of the tidal potomac. for falls church, hometown forecast by 8:00 a.m. still be around freezing. by noontime, the mid-40s there. hour by hour, here's the entire forecast for the entire region. we'll have temperatures there for election day climbing into the upper 40s by midafternoon. thankfully, a light wind. so great weather for getting out the vote on this election day 2012. and i'll have an update on the coastal storm. danella, good morning. just received good news. if you're traveling along route 1, richmond highway at central avenue. that earlier crash is cleared out of the roadway. all your lanes are now reopened. let's head over to i-95. just a bit sluggish in dale city. it's not terrible. seeing a lot of green and then slow again as you make your way toward route 1.

here's a look at lorton road. your travel speed for prince william parkway, you're under speed at 46 miles an hour. thatt ecould be a lot worse. i-395, not bad. hov lanes getting a little more volume. no major delays. under speed, 44 miles per hour. that drive 15 minutes. eun, back over to you. >> danella, thank you. if the rest of the country votes like dixville notch, new hampshire, does, we could be in for a long election night. the tiny town kept an election day tradition alive by voting at midnight. and mitt romney is making one final push to win over voters. he'll campaign in ohio and pennsylvania. the republican presidential nominee wrapped up his final full day of campaigning late last night in new hampshire where he kicked off his white house bid nearly a year and a half ago. president obama is done

campaigning. he'll spend election day in chicago. he delivered his final campaign speech yesterday in des moines, iowa. it has sentimental value for the president. it's where he opened his first presidential campaign office more than four years ago. the battleground state getting the most attention has to be ohio. it won't necessarily be the state that decides the presidential race. virginiaed can be in scale. the gray states are considered toss-ups. that's according to nbc news. there are nine scenarios, and virginia could be a toss-up. if the president wins nevada, iowa, and pennsylvania, and mitt romney then wins colorado, new hampshire, and florida, that leaves three toss-ups. that's wisconsin, ohio, and virginia. if the candidates split ohio and

wisconsin, that leaves virginia. that could make virginia the key to the 270 electoral votes needed to win. and the recent polls have the candidates at a statistical dead heat in that state. right now the polls are already open in virginia. we've seen long lines all over the area ready to cast their ballots. news 4's megan mcgrath is live in alexandria with more on that. megan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, aaron. you just heard eun explaining just how important virginia may be in this election. the way virginia goes may be the way the country goes in the presidential election. there is a lot of interest in this race. we're here at a polling place in alexandria. just a lot of activity here this morning. there were actually people waiting in line beginning at 4:30 this morning. theyn't wanted to make sure th got in this morning before they headed out to work. they came in before dawn, had their chairs, were waiting, ready to go, and they were among the first who were in as soon as

the polls opened at 6:00 this morning. take a look inside at what we're seeing. this video was shot just a few minutes ago. you can see just the number of people that are in here. by the time the polls opened, we had hundreds of people standing in line outside. they began to file in as soon as the doors opened at 6:00. i've got to tell you. there still is a line inside. there's kind of a multiple layered process that goes on here. you're allowed to enter the building. you line up along a wall in the hallway. some people file into the actual cafeteria where the machines are. they cast their ballots, and the rest of them wrap around along this wall in the hallway. fts goi it's going to take a while for folks to cast their ballots. they believe it's very important. they want their voices to be heard, and theyn't wanted to m sure to get out here early this morning. the polls open at 6:00. here in virginia, they're going to stay open until 7:00 tonight. we're expecting just a constant

flow of people all day long. the best time to come is off-peak hours between 10:00 and 4:00. you can bet it's just going to be busy all day long. reporting live in alexandria, megan mcgrath, news 4. and voters in the commonwealth also get to decide on two ballot measures. question one involves eminent domain. it would allow companies to take someone's home or land only if it's for public use, not for private gain. and question two is about the amount of time a general assembly can delay the start of a veto session. if the measure passes, lawmakers can delay the start up to one week. here's what you need to know before you head to the polls. all voters in virginia and some first time voters in maryland will be required to show some form of identification. there are at least 30 forms of valid i.d., including an i.d. card from your employer. it does not have to be a photo i.d. poll opening and closing times vary from state to state.

virginia opened at 6:00 a.m. and will stay open until 7:00 p.m. d.c. and maryland open at 7:00 a.m. and will stay open until 8:00 p.m. tonight. call the tip line for voter fraud at 202-885-4444. 6:48 now. wall street waiting patiently for the election results as well. and which candidate wins could decide which stocks you should buy. cnbc's jackie deangelis live now with this morning's "for your money" report. jackie? >> good morning, aaron. stock futures slightly higher this morning after the markets didn't move much yesterday. investors are cautious. they don't want to take any major positions before the outcome of the day's election. yesterday the dow rose 9 points to close at 13.912. and the nasdaq was up 17 points to 2199. meanwhile, market watchers considering what sectors could do well under a mitt romney or barack obama presidency. for romney, banks would do best

as he tries to roll back financial reforms. for obama, health care and green energy related companies could definitely outperform. but wall street may actually prefer to have a democrat in the white house. here's why. since 1901 the dow has averaged a 74% return during a democrat's term compared with 47% when republicans have been in office. aaron, back to you. >> jackie deangelis of cnbc, thank you. in addition to the presidential race, there are some intriguing senate races to keep an eye on. democratic senator claire mcaskill is looking to hold on to her seat in missouri against republican todd akin. akin stayed in the race despite controversial comments about rape and pregnancy. scott brown hopes to retain his seat against challenger elizabeth warren. and linda mcmahon, former wwe executive, is battling for a seat in connecticut. in new york city and new jersey, so many areas are still

without power because of sandy, but the board of elections are doing what they can. in at least one new jersey county, ballots were delivered to emergency shelters. governor andrew cuomo signed an executive order that allows voters to cast ballots at any open polling location. this morning more than 1 million people remained without power. most of the outages are in new york and new jersey. so far sandy claimed at least 106 lives. right now more than 10,000 people are still living in shelters across seven states. many residents in their homes are living without heat. >> we just need power back. that's all. >> eight days with no power, no heat, no water. it's just a daily need we don't have. >> terrible. the gas shortage is still a problem as well. but there are some signs of progress. more gas stations are open and fuel is being shipped in. the staten island ferry and 80% of the subway system are up and running, and the u.s. department

of agriculture is sending more than 1 million pounds of food to new york. >> we've been paying attention to the nor'easter moving into the northeast. tom, you're saying it looks a little bit better. >> the jersey coast may get gusts of wind maybe 50, 60 miles an hour. we don't need anything like this for any of the recovery areas. with the storm system continuing to move and develop along the eastern seaboard over the next 36 hours. i'll show you that in detail in just a second. right now we're dealing with a big chill that has descended upon the entire region. all the areas in blue are below freezing. that includes all of west virginia, just about all of virginia and maryland, except the areas right near the bay waters and the tidal potomac. most of washington is below freezing too except right on the potomac. as we look what's been going on the last 12 hours, just a few clouds drifting over.

dry air in place through the region. this developing coastal low right now is a midlevel disturbance over georgia and the carolinas into florida. looks like it's going to be tracking off the coast. unlike yesterday where it's looking like it's going to be closer to the coast, now it's looking like it's going to be farther out to sea, which is better news for the troubled areas here from the jersey coast and up towards new york city and long island because of that. let's go forward here. this is as of 5:00 tomorrow morning. coastal low developing. farther out to sea, bringing some rain into the eastern shore and perhaps around southern maryland and northern neck. by noontime, 1:00, the precipitation drawing in some cold air may be changing to wet snow for the eastern suburbs and around the bay. i don't think anything is going to stick. if it does happen, it will be melting on roadways. that may continue into the evening hours. it will finally pull away as it heads out to sea. it will dry out and get sunshine back and improving news into the week and weekend. highs today in the 40s.

great weather to get out and vote, not much wind. and then tomorrow, those clouds around and rain/snow east of the metro area ending wednesday night. sunshine back thursday through the weekend into the first part of next week with a warming trend. in fact, highs near 60 or so saturday, sunday, and veterans day on monday. danella, how's traffic? checking the rails, a couple of delays. first with metro, seeing a delay on the orange and blue line because of a disabled train. this is at farragut west. you're going to see single tracking between farragut west and foggy bottom metro stations. let's head over to the marc. still dealing with the signal problem. penn north 554 your delay is 31 minutes. 11 minutes on penn south train number 407. over to the roads, texas avenue southeast at ridge road, all your lanes are blocked by the crash there. that same accident as fort dupont drive closed at randall circle. your alternate is take minnesota avenue. in about six and a half

minutes, voters in maryland will be able to start casting their ballot. news 4's tony tull with more. >> reporter: good morning. we're at the broad creek room in prince george's county. i want to give you a live look at the line. take a look. the line is deceiving. it goes down the hallway, around the corner, around another corner, and aaron and eun, it goes out the door. we have a couple of hundred people at the broad creek room in prince george's county. guys, this is what it's all about, the young folks coming out to vote. we have three first time voters. why is it important for you to come out and vote? >> i think it's very important to vote, man. i think for the young kids, it's very important to exercise your right to vote. >> reporter: awesome. appreciate your time. glad to see you out here. by the way, eun and aaron, here's mom right here. mom, how proud are you? >> i am very proud this morning. >> reporter: excellent. guys, one more live look down the hallway. you can see all the folks. as you've been mentioning, seven questions on maryland's ballot. three of them, very big question for the maryland d.r.e.a.m. act. we're going to see if that's going to stay.

question six, the civil protection marriage act, see if that stays around. and that one gaming expansion in maryland. we have a lot of questions on the ballot in maryland. these doors set to open now in about five minutes. aaron and eun, back to you guys. 6:55. tonight you can watch the election results and listen to live jazz music right here in the nation's capital. the kennedy center is hosting an election night jam concert. jason mraz will perform with his band called the bandwagon. it will feature several other arttists and play american favorites and campaignry la rel events and sing alongs. the concert runs from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. tonight at the grand foyer. for details about questions on your ballot, you can check out our voting guide at nbcwashington.com and stay with news 4 and nbc news for your election results tonight and tomorrow morning. we will be here at 4:00 a.m., actually earlier, some of us tomorrow. look for that tomorrow morning. good voting weather today

even though it's going to be cold. wear your winter coat if you're about to head out. a chilly afternoon. thankfully, not a lot of wind and a lot of sun. that storm brushing by us into the east on wednesday and wednesday night. nice after that. back to you. >> thank you, tom. that is "news 4 today." thanks for starting your day with us. >> we'll be back in 25 minutes with weather, traffic, and any breaking news. we'll be back at 4:00 a.m. for "news 4 today" tomorrow. [ earnest ] out of the blue one day,

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