CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: CYBERSPACE TRACKS LATEST RESULTS ON ELECTION NIGHT (COLUMN 13)

Cybertip: Looking for a telephone number? Head to www.switchboard.com. By entering names, cities and states, you can find most individuals and business telephone listings in the United States.

Tonight's the night. All the campaigning, debate and other election hype leads to today: (ta-da) Election Day. But what really counts is Election Night because that's when we find out who wins.

Politicians have really taken advantage of the Internet and the World Wide Web to reach out to voters during this campaign. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of political web pages. But tonight the Internet should provide a great source for up-to-the-minute returns without all that endless network commentary.

Missourians have a rather unique opportunity in that election night returns will be available via the Internet on the Secretary of State's home page. Missouri is one of only 10 states or so offering such a service.

http://mosl.sos.state.mo.us

Joni: The Missouri Secretary of State's office experimented with Internet returns in April and expanded the offering during the August primary.

But a new system will give Missourians the fastest election returns to date via the Internet. As counties file their returns with the Secretary of State's office, they will go directly on the Internet. It's all one system this time around.

The data will be updated frequently, but users must reload to receive the newest statistics.

Peggy: The first returns should be available about 15 minutes after the polls close at 7. Those initial totals will likely be absentee ballots. Counties are encouraged to call in partial counts throughout the evening. Returns will be updated as the office receives returns throughout the evening.

The Secretary of State page has dozens and dozens of choices from the President to statewide offices as well as U.S. representatives, state representatives and senators. You need to know the district number of the race you're interested in. Returns on the amendments and propositions will also be available online. Election results also will be searchable by county.

Joni: The Secretary of State's page also provides links to other SOS offices in almost every state. An intern at the SOS office developed links to information across America. You could find specific election results in other states.

We linked to Illinois. You can also get there at

http://www.sos.state.il.us

Peggy: But Illinois won't be providing live returns via the Internet.

Want an early preview of the outcome? PoliticsNow will provide exit poll information nationally and for each state via ABC News.

You can find them at

http://www.Politicsnow.com

Joni: A number of writers and analysts at the site will also provide a running analysis of national polls and key state exit polls. PoliticsNow will also provide automatically updated summaries of the battles for control of the U.S. Senate, U.S. House and the governor seats.

Of course, all the major networks and major newspapers will be updating their election returns throughout the night as well. CNN and Time magazine have teamed up to provide

http://allpolitics.com

Peggy: You can try to reach Allpolitics by typing its address, but it's a busy site. You might try linking to Allpolitics through CNN's page at

http://www.cnn.com

Of course, CNN is busy also. Good luck getting through.

Joni: Allpolitics gives a rundown of poll closing times for each state. You can also download your own election night scorecard so you can keep track of results yourself. Scorecards are available for the presidency, the Senate, the House, and all political parties.

Peggy: OK, we all know the first two parties. We can argue about who's third, but can you name all 68 parties who have put up candidates for gubernatorial or congressional office this year? To view and print the scorecards, you need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Joni: On election night, Allpolitics will hold a moderated chat with CNN journalists and political analysts between 8 and 11. The topics and hosts change every half hour throughout the evening. A full schedule is listed at the site.

Peggy: For a more irreverent look at election returns, turn to Comedy Central, which will simulcast Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher on its cable station and the Internet beginning at 8 p.m. Find Comedy Central at

http://www.comcentral.com

You can listen to the program online, participate in live chat, post your views on several topical bulletin boards, vote in cyberpolls and enter the political limerick contest.

E-mail us with your favorite food sites at movn@ldd.net.

See you in Cyberspace.

~Joni Adams is managing editor and Peggy Scott is a graphics editor/staff writer at the Southeast Missourian.