Here's the key number you need to know for following the battle for control of the Senate: 10.

There 33 seats up for grabs. Of the seats not up for grabs, 40 belong to Republicans and 27 belong to Democrats. That stacks the odds quite a bit against the Dems, but polls are showing that Dems are strong in most of the races. So the number to follow is whether the Repubs can win just 10 of the 33 to create a 50-50 split, in which case Vice President Dick Cheney would cast the tiebreaker vote in close Senate votes.

CNN has already called the low-hanging fruit, the obvious races: Lugar (R) will win in Indiana, and Bernie Sanders (independent, but usually votes with the Dems) will win Vermont. So the Republicans have nine to go.

And realistically, there are six more seats that are considered safe for the Repubs, so really, they have only three to go. Fortunately for the Dems, there are eight seats that are considered neck-and-neck: Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Arizona, and Montana.

Polls close at 6pm (Central Time) in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia, followed by North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia at 6:30. We'll update you as soon as we get any numbers and can start getting a feel for how the battle for Congress is going, and then we'll post early voting numbers for Texas after polls close here at 7pm. Remember to stay with the Austin Chronicle Election Blog throughout the night as your one-stop shop for election results ranging from the local bonds all the way up to the fight for Washington D.C.

Here's the list of "victory parties" (they always call them that, even when the candidate in question has no chance of winning) that we know of at the moment. We'll update this list as we receive more info. For the most part, we expect Austin candidates will all converge at the celebrations of their respective political party to be with like-minded revelers.

High GOP trickification is afoot in several combative districts nationwide. A sampling of GOP vote suppression and all-around fuckery follows:

In Maryland, homeless people were bussed in from Philadelphia, took a meeting with incumbent Republican governor Bob Ehrlich's wife (!), and then proceeded to pass out campaign literature identifying Ehrlich as a Dem.

In the tight Virginia race between George Allen and Jim Webb, the FBI is looking into claims of phone calls directing voters to make-believe precincts.

There's also reports of Latino voter harassment in Arizona and Colorado.

And if isn't enough, melted-plastic automaton Laura Ingraham is urging her listeners to phone-jam a voter protection hotline. Luckily, her audience doesn't know how to use such complicated technology.

If you see any forms of voter intimidation, or receive any mysterious calls saying your polling place has moved to Baghdad, call the Election Protection Coalition at 866/OUR-VOTE (866/687-8683).

The Texas Longhorns men’s basketball team now has a pair of exhibition victories in the bag, and for the most part, so far so decent. The starting guard combination of freshman D.J. Augustin and sophomore A.J. Abrams seems to contain enough quickness, instinct, and pure ability to man the backcourt with authority. Potential shortfall number one comes in the form of the starting frontcourt combination of sophomore Connor Atchley and freshmen Kevin Durant and Damion James lacking much of a truly physical presence. That’s where 6’10”, 300-plus pound freshman Dexter Pittman is guaranteed to fill in, but all things currently point to coach Rick Barnes needing to do one of his very best jobs of coaching in order to get this youthful team up to par with the expectations being thrust upon them. All too often in their game against Xavier, there were four offensive players standing motionless way too close together along the three-point line. While the intent has been set for this spry team to run like the wind, it’s the Horns half-court offense that will make or break it as it attempts to knock the likes of the now-mighty Texas A&M Aggies down to size.

2K Sports College Hoops Classic: Chicago State vs. St. Bonaventure: Thu., Nov. 9, 5:30pm. UT Vs. Alcorn State: Thu., Nov. 9, 8:30pm. Consolation game: Fri., Nov. 10, 5:30pm. Championship game: Fri., Nov. 10, 7:30pm. Frank Erwin Center, 1701 Red River. For more, see TexasSports.com.

Well, sort of official: Those are the results from 8,000 Austin ISD students as part of the National Student/Parent Mock Election, an exercise to teach civic participation to schoolkids. Man, look at those Libertarian numbers! Glad they'll have something to toast at their party at Legends tonight.

Overall results:
U.S. Senate: Radnofsky (D) 46%, Hutchison (R) 38%, Jameson (L) 16%
U.S. Representative, Dist. 10: McCaul (R) 40%, Ankrum (D) 37%, Badnarik (L) 23%
Governor: Perry (R) 29%, Friedman (I) 25%, Strayhorn (I) 22%, Bell (D) 19%, Werner (L) 5%
Attorney General: van Os (D) 40%, Abbott (R) 31%, Roland (L) 28%
Lieutenant Gov.: Alvarado (D) 53%, Dewhurst (R) 27%, Baker (L) 20%
State Senator, Dist. 14: Watson (D) 56%, Howard (L) 44%

MIDDAY ELECTION UPDATE FROM COUNTY CLERK DANA DEBEAUVOIR

We’re having a great Election Day in Travis County. Polling places are quite busy, and lines have been steady throughout the day. The overwhelming number of calls to the County Clerk’s Elections Division did result in a steady busy signal for a few minutes as voting got underway. The eSlate equipment has worked exceptionally well today. Other than a few loose cables and early morning jitters that were resolved quickly, we have had no major problems none with the voting system. Early this morning, we did experience some set-up issues with a few election workers who got flustered and were still setting up booths when voters arrived. As they are trained to do, these workers called for help and a team of troubleshooters was immediately dispatched to provide assistance. By mid-morning all polling places had settled into a steady, if somewhat frenzied, pace of processing voters. At this point, voters who haven’t gone to the polls yet should allow a little extra time because the period from 3:30 to 7:00 pm is traditionally the heaviest time of the day for turnout. Of concern, one voter said she had received an automated phone call at her residence incorrectly informing her that her polling place had changed. We hope for no campaign mischief, but we encourage voters to beware. Voters who want to verify their voting status or polling place can call the County Clerk’s Elections Division at 238-VOTE.

The UT Lady Longhorns got invited to the Dance on Monday. In fact, they were greeted as one of the four guests of honor by the NCAA – and then ushered to their table in a far corner of the room, next to the bathrooms, and behind a column. Gee, thanks, I think.

The Horns got a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, a big surprise for the team and coach Chris Petrucelli. On the other hand, unlike all the other No. 1 (and No. 2) seeds, UT has to go on the road for their first two games. In fact, they have to go all the way to Storrs, Conn.; only one other team in the 64-team field got sent anywhere near as far from home (California at Florida State).

Karen Renick of VoteRescue, a national organization based here in Austin devoted to documenting voting "irregularities" has sent out an e-mail spotlighting the following reported problems. The Chronicle will try to verify with the County Clerk's office and provide more details as they become available.

Renick says:
* Wrong ballots issued in Cedar Park, PCT 277. No one answering at Williamson County election office. Secretary of State's office says they can't do anything; it's a county issue.

* Machines are breaking down in PCT 364, Westlake; voters being asked to vote on sample paper ballots.

* Power goes off at combined Precincts 439 and 465 in East Austin; machines are run on battery power.