After last week's heartbreaking vote on Amendment One, I noticed a lot of my friends on Facebook talking about how proud we were to live in the county that voted it down by the very biggest margin. I got the idea to make a shirt to show off our Orange County pride. Hopefully if there's enough interest, the shirts made locally at some place like The Merch.

I'd love for you to help, readers, by listing some the things you love the most about Orange County.  If you don't see your favorite things, please add them by checking write-in! The ideas will be put together in a word cloud that shows our values.

Pictured at left is a demonstration of how this could look.  

Last night, the County Commissioners did a pretty good job of displaying why it has been so easy, maybe even necessary, for the County Manager to be such a policy leader. Fortunately, I did see Barry Jacobs really step up and push the board forward on transit. I think he'll be even more effective when joined by 2 or 3 new allies after the general election.

Big items on the agenda included delaying property revaluation, reappointing the defunct Economic Development Commission, and approving a long-awaited transit plan. They managed to do all three, but not without some kicking and screaming. See my live tweetage and other responses on Storify and below.

The intersection of Alabama Avenue and Jones Ferry Road is the first impression of Carrboro for visitors entering town from Highway 54. It is important to the Central Business District and the Farmer's Market that this section of Jones Ferry Rd makes a good first impression. This is the Gateway to Carrboro.

In a tight Democratic primary involving 3 candidates for 2 seats in Orange County's district 1, civil rights attorney and former Carrboro alderman Mark Dorosin came out ahead with 10,474 votes. He will be joined on the Board of Commissioners by current Chapel Hill Town Council member Penny Rich (9709 votes). Because there was no Republican primary in district 1 this year, Dorosin and Rich will take their seats after the general election in November. They will replace outgoing commissioner Valerie Foushee and incumbent commissioner Pam Hemminger (9167 votes).

In the statewide vote, Amendment One passed easily with 61% of the vote. However, Orange County overwhelmingly rejected the amendment by a vote of 79% to 21%. (Our neighbors in Durham County likewise voted 70% to 30% against the amendment.) Some precincts in Carrboro and Chapel Hill voted against the amendment almost unanimously. The map below shows the Orange County precinct-level results of the referendum.

It's OP's annual Election Day Open thread to report back what you're seeing and share any other election-related thoughts. We didn't have a Pundit of the Year contest this time, but I'm still curious to hear your predictions. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours...

Last Monday, candidates running in this Tuesday’s primary submitted their first campaign finance reports of the cycle. The Orange County Board of Elections posted these reports last week, and if you’re interested in looking through them, they’re available here. If you don’t have that kind of time, then here’s some relevant information you might find useful to know, sorted by district and candidate.

District 1

Mark Dorosin
Raised: $10,364.15
Total Aggregate Contributions: 77
Total Donors Reported: 45
Cash on Hand: $5,650.08

Early voting is well underway, and many of you have already made up your minds about who to vote for. This is our annual special-rules post to learn who your favorites on this year's ballot. Here's OP's 2012 candidate list including links to all of their websites. And our eletion info in general is at orangepolitics.org/elections-2012.

The rules: only write who you are voting for (and why, if you like). You may also list the people you would vote for if you lived in their districts. Do not refer (by name or specific description) to any candidates that you are not publicly supporting. If you do not follow the rules, your comments will be removed. (You are free to write comments on other posts, or even post your own blog entry, that are critical of the candidates. In fact, you are warmly invited to do so!)