wgn's jay miller is live from the cook county clerk's office. >> reporter: good afternoon. so far so good. election officials telling us that in the six hours that the polls have been opened, voter turnout has been strong, steady and smooth. here is what voters are telling us. >> is there any problems at >> very smooth. quite a few people in there which is a good sign. hope it lasts all day. >> we were glad we aren't too good on that old system with the machines. i was glad they got rid of that. pull the hand on that, that was a pain in the butt. this isn't too bad. >> it's a typical election. judicial tension business is silly because most of the judges are running unopposed and then you vote to retain them or whatever and you don't recognize any of their names. everything else, it's fine. >>> so that's just one some voters are telling us about their voting experiences this morning. polls opened at 6:00 a.m. and several of the 1218 polling places reported long lines this morning. a lot of folks voting before they went to work. no major problems had been reported. however,

jay miller filed the 50 lawsuits. >> this was in direct response to the $22 million settlement reachedbetween the united states government and st. joe's last week. >> reporter: in that bombshell settlement, st. joseph's did not admit liability but agreed to give millions to the government for paying illegal kickbacks for patient referrals and getting federal money for what the government called unnecessary stibts performed -- stints performed by dr. ma day. >> any patient you pick off of this pile, i have had three top-notch interventional cardiologists from the finest institutions, including yale review their ang geeo gram films and determine independent of each other that they received a stint they didn't need. >> reporter: the doctor has denied any wrongdoing, including a press conference last month. >> i am confident in everything that i have done, every decision i have made. >> reporter: initial concern arose when more than 500 patients got letters from the hospital saying they may not have needed stints. among then, susan carari from parkville who spoke to wjz for our investigati

. >> jay: they really appreciate it. be right back with dennis miller cheers and applause ] ♪ tch this. ♪ it's arettbig deal. you are out with friends. there's jason. wait, is that-- that's dave. and that's the forbidden dance. and you aren't about to keep it all to yourself. you've got an eye for detail. the droid incredible by htc. exclusively at verizon. [ male announcer ] for frequent heartburn relief nothing beats prevacid®24hr. just one pill helps keep you heartburn free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn with prevacid®24hr, all day, all night. nothing works better. what could possibly hold together all the natural energy found in peanuts? caramel works. payday. crunchy roasted peanuts and soft chewy caramel come together to give you sweet energy. payday. the sweet taste of energy. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jay: all righty, welcome back. my next guest, an old comedy buddy of mine. he hosts "the dennis miler show" on the westwood one radio network. he'll be appearing tomorrow night at the celebrity theatre in ph

jay leno next thursday, november 18th. >>> let's look what's happening the rest of this afternoon. the top of the hour, also officials begin counting absentee ballots in the still undecided race between joe millera murkowski for the senate. and making rounds, giving a speech isn't milwaukee tonight at the teen challenge esprent a faith-based thoorgs supports people with substance abuse problems. >>> former senate candidate christine o'donnell will appear on the "the tonight show "with jay leno. [ female announcer ] we were flattered when regenerist beat a $100 cream. flabbergasted when we creamed a $500 cream! for under $30 regenerist micro-sculpting cream hydrates better than 23 of america's most expensive luxury creams. fantastic. phenomenal. regenerist. until the combination of three good probiotics in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. you can't switch car insurance until your policy expires. the truth: you can switch to allstate today. extra incentive: you can get allstate's early signing discount. dollar for dollar,