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As the 2000 election showed, you never know what unexpected surprises may crop up on election day. So here are some quick links to help you make sure you've got everything you need to compare results to past elections and explain the unexpected on election night ... and beyond.

Key times/dates

• Election night poll closing times state-by-state
• Key dates for choosing the next president, from when electors are chosen to when Congress counts the electoral votes

Historical results

• Electoral votes, popular votes, and electors from past presidential elections, going back to the first election
• This map from The Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com offers a quick look at how individual states historically have voted -- Shift-Click on a state to view a state's election returns from 1980-2000.

Data for comparisons

• Historical voter turnout
• 2000 voter turnout by state
• Exit poll data from 2000

Facts so you get it right

• State-by-state provisional ballot rules
• How the electoral college works
• FAQs, such as what happens if neither candidate gets 270 electoral votes, or what happens if candidates tie in a state's popular vote or there is a dispute as to the winner
• Each state's law on what triggers a recount

Handy links for state elections

• Quick links to all state election sites
• State-by-state legislative results: You can view preliminary legislative election results here, displayed by party control of legislatures, state control, and gubernatorial control.  These preliminary results will be provided on this page beginning at 8 p.m. mountain time on November 2. The results will be updated throughout the night. Viewers will need to reload each page to view new updates.
• Ballot initiative information: See previous column

Tracking voting problems

• Election-day voter reports: A group of non-partisan organizations and academic institutions have set up a Voter Alert Line (1-866-MYVOTE1) at the National Constitution Center on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. NBC News will be reporting on the problems called in on air and on this Web page.
• Voter fraud stories: Bill Hobbs, a former Nashville journalist who's now in PR, is tracking voter fraud stories on his weblog.

Types of voting systems
Just in case types of certain types of ballots become an issue ("hanging chads" anyone?), here are explanations of the different types of voting systems from the Election Assistance Commission:

• Paper Ballot
• Mechanical Lever Machine
• Punchcards
• Optical scan
• Electronic

Here's hoping the election doesn't turn into a bad joke...
When you get to the point where you think you can't take any more election-related news -- and you will get to that point -- here are some of the best jokes from the political season about President Bush and Sen. John Kerry. 

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