Paul commandeers Senate to protest Patriot Act Paul commandeers Senate to protest Patriot Act The Justice Department is warning lawmakers that the National Security Agency will have to wind down its bulk collection of Americans' phone records by the end of the week if Congress fails to reauthorize the... Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul commandeered the Senate floor Wednesday to deliver a nearly 11 hours-long protest against renewal of the Patriot Act, calling the post-Sept. 11 law government intrusion on... 
 
 Clinton says childcare needs to be a national priority Clinton says childcare needs to be a national priority Hillary Rodham Clinton says child care needs to become a national priority and is urging Republicans in Congress to provide more federal money to help working families care for their children. Improving child care needs to become a national priority, Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday, and she urged Republicans in Congress to provide more federal money to help working families care for their children. 
 
 Bush faults Obama about Iraq, stops short on more troops Bush faults Obama about Iraq, stops short on more troops Jeb Bush sharply criticized President Barack Obama on Tuesday for withdrawing troops from Iraq, but he declined to say whether he would order additional ground forces into the country to repel Islamic State militants. Jeb Bush sharply criticized President Barack Obama on Tuesday for withdrawing troops from Iraq, but he declined to say whether he would order additional ground forces into the country to repel Islamic State militants. 
 
 10 Things to Know for Thursday 10 Things to Know for Thursday By The Associated Press Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: By The Associated Press Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Thursday: 
 
 1 dead in Burundi unrest; leader delays parliamentary vote 1 dead in Burundi unrest; leader delays parliamentary vote A Burundian official says the president has signed a decree to postpone parliamentary elections for a week from May 26 until early June. Burundi police fired live bullets, tear gas and tossed a grenade Wednesday to disperse hundreds of protesters angry over the president's bid for a third term in office. One soldier died while trying to stop the police... 
 
 Catholic soul-searching in Ireland over vote on gay marriage Catholic soul-searching in Ireland over vote on gay marriage Barely a generation ago, Ireland outlawed homosexual acts and gays often faced a stark choice between leading secret lives or emigrating to more liberal lands. This week, in the world's first national... Gays in Ireland often have faced a stark choice between leading secret lives or emigrating to more liberal lands. This week, the Irish could turn that tradition on its head and vote to legalize same-sex marriage in the... 
 
 Amid criticism, Clinton sticks to low-key campaign strategy Amid criticism, Clinton sticks to low-key campaign strategy Campaigning this week in Iowa, Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't make a formal speech. She answered questions from reporters, but only for five minutes. Pressed by a moderator at her own event to say where she... During two days of campaigning this week in Iowa, Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't make a formal speech. She answered questions from reporters, but only for five minutes. Pressed by a moderator at her own event to say... 
 
 GOP primary for governor remains undecided in Kentucky GOP primary for governor remains undecided in Kentucky James Comer's request to review the razor-thin results of Kentucky's Republican primary for governor could delay the party's efforts to coalesce around a single candidate, giving Democratic nominee Jack... Kentucky's Republican nominee for governor could be in limbo for weeks following a close primary, but either possible winner will offer voters a stark contrast to Democrat Jack Conway in a rare off-year election. ||||| Add a location to your Tweets 
 
 When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| The final minutes of turning absentee ballots at Miami-Dade election headquarters. Staffers scrambled to check in as many outstanding ballots as they could before the 7 pm deadline. 
 
 The Miami-Dade Elections Department is counting absentee ballots a day after the election. They hope to finish today. 
 
 Dont expect election results from Miami-Dade County anytime soon. 
 
 The countys beleaguered elections supervisor told reporters Wednesday night that her employees, still processing thousands of absentee ballots, wont finish until Thursday. 
 
 Supervisor Penelope Townsley acknowledged that mistakes had been made in the elections process, according to Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS4. She spoke after another day during which elections workers fed thousands of pages of ballots into scanning machines. 
 
 With the presidential race settled  but Florida still too close to call  Miami-Dades lack of final results have left a much-mocked blank spot on the long-decided electoral map. 
 
 Earlier Wednesday, the county had said 20,000 absentee ballots still needed to be counted. The office of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez issued a news release insisting that the unprecedented length of the ballot represents over 100,000 pages that need to be reviewed and verified, one by one. 
 
 This in no way is representative of any issues or delays, but a matter of unprecedented volume, the release said, noting that the countys canvassing board is continuing to examine suspect absentee ballots. 
 
 Overall, President Barack Obama had more than 61 percent of the vote in Miami-Dade, or 521,329 votes, while Mitt Romney had 317,382, or 37.6 percent, according to the election departments website. The county was plagued Tuesday by embarrassing delays and long lines preventing the state to be called for Obama or Romney. 
 
 Deputy Elections Supervisor Christina White insisted Wednesday morning that an unusually long ballot and high voter turnout, which was 64 percent, was to blame, not a lack of resources. 
 
 Its not that there were any problems or glitches, White told reporters. Its about volume and paper left to be processed. 
 
 Miami-Dade elections staffers worked overnight Tuesday and through Wednesday to count some 30,000 absentee ballots that had been dropped off or mailed to the Doral headquarters and county government center in downtown Miami at the last minute. The ballots had to be turned in by 7 p.m. Tuesday to be eligible for counting. 
 
 Teams of staffers counted 10,000 overnight, but still had another 20,000 to review Wednesday afternoon at the Doral headquarters. 
 
 The process is slow and tedious. To start, a dozen elections staffers must electronically compare images of voters signatures on absentee ballots with the signatures on the voters registration cards. Then the workers must determine whether the ballots have been properly filled out before counting them in scanning machines. 
 
 If staffers reject any ballots, they set them aside for the Miami-Dade canvassing board to make the final call. The board, sitting in an adjacent room, consists of the chair, County Judge Shelley Kravitz, County Judge Andrew Hague, and the county supervisor of elections, Penelope Townsley. 
 
 The elections office must also count all provisional ballots by 5 p.m. Thursday. White said she did not know the total number of provisional ballots. 
 
 Obama wont lose the lead in Miami-Dade, where his campaign had a massive grass-roots operation. But how the final batch of ballots affects the overall number in Florida remains to be seen  Obama leads by just over 46,000, according to the state election departments most recent numbers. 
 
 The race could still be close enough to trigger a recount in Florida, unless it is waived by Romney, who lost the overall election to the president. 
 
 On Wednesday afternoon, the total difference between the candidates hovered just above the .5 percentage point needed to trigger a recount as the final absentee and early voting numbers trickled in across the state. With such a razor-thin margin, no media outlets had called Florida for Obama or Romney. 
 
 Overall in Florida, at least 8,307,749 voters cast ballots for president, just under the number cast in 2008, when Obama won handily. 
 
 In Miami-Dade, so far, it appears the number of voters who cast ballots for president will be just shy of the 864,636 who did so four years ago. 
 
 Lines were so long in some polling places here that the last voter did not leave the West Kendall Regional Library until a few minutes after 1 a.m. 
 
 When polls officially closed at 7 p.m. hundreds of people were still waiting to cast ballots in precincts around South Florida, in an election that was marked by long lines and the occasional problem. Even after the networks called the race for President Obama, people in South Florida remained in line. 
 
 Voters complained that many stations lacked enough poll workers, scanning machines and privacy booths to address the crowds. Dozens of workers were diverted from closed polling places to others that faced daunting queues, and 150 extra optical scanners were distributed throughout the day. 
 
 This article will be updated as more information becomes available. ||||| Most people are aware now that Governor Gary Johnson received over 1% of the vote, including over 1.1 million raw votes. However, it has been harder to find information about the Presidential candidates who did not perform as well. 
 
 Jill Stein currently has 396, 684 votes–she is expected to clear 400k easily once all votes are in, including write-ins. 
 
 Virgil Goode currently has 108,195 votes–he is expected to clear 115k votes in total, including write-ins. That number could go as high as 130k. 
 
 Roseanne Barr, without any write-in votes included, has polled 49,412 votes, which will likely be good enough for sixth place. With write-ins and remaining votes to be counted, Barr is expected to get over 50k. 
 
 Rocky Anderson’s vote total currently stands at 34,521. With remaining votes and write-ins, he might reach 40k. 
 
 Thomas Hoefling scored 28,593 votes so far, with 94.6% of those votes coming from California. 
 
 So far, no other candidate has received more than 15k votes. All of this information is from Google (except Goode’s numbers), so it should be taken with a grain of salt. These are not final numbers. Richard Winger suspects as many as 8% of votes are left to be counted.
– Not a bad result for Roseanne Barr: Only five people finished ahead of her in this year's presidential election, notes the Independent Political Report. The comedian ran on the pro-pot Peace and Freedom ticket and drew more than 49,500 votes, according to PBS election results. That puts her in sixth, behind Obama (61 million), Romney (58 million), Gary Johnson (1.2 million), Jill Stein (410,000), and Virgil Goode (115,000). Note: an earlier version of this file based on Google's election results said she placed fifth, but those results left out Goode.) MyFox Tampa Bay notes that Barr drew about 8,000 votes in Florida, which, by the way, remains too close to call for either Obama or Romney. (Don't hold your breath for a result tonight—the Miami Herald says votes in Miami-Dade won't be fully counted until tomorrow.) No hard feelings from Roseanne, though. She tweeted congratulations to President Obama, notes the Huffington Post.