PUBLISHED: 11-04-08

Reports from Grant Park

7:53 p.m. Despite early hesitance, the results from Penn. and Va., crowd is thinking Obama is in. People celebrating .. pushing toward Jumbotron. Portapotties are out of toilet paper, lines getting longer, people smoking cigarettes and drinking snuck in alcohol in non-ticketed area.

7:21 p.m. Crowd is going crazy with the election results coming in from New England and Illinois. Too early to call yet, but crowd is watching CNN JumboTron screens in anticipation.

6:58 p.m. Crowd is anxious to hear results from Virginia and Pennsylvania – from the crowd.

6:45 p.m. Ticketed guests have gained entry into Grant Park area. Crowd is cheering with news Obama is leading in Florida.

5:23 p.m. Non-ticketed guests are being allowed to come and go. According to reports, security in the non-ticketed area is not as strict as originally thought.

4:41 p.m. Kaylee King, The Chronicle Assistant Editor, is stationed in the non-ticketed area of Grant Park reporting from the crowd. As of now, she said, the crowd is not worried, or anticipating any type of riots to break out tonight and they don’t believe it’s a risk.

Non-ticketed guests were allowed to enter an area north of Congress Parkway and Columbus Drive near the Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park around 3:45 p.m. So far, a few thousand have gathered in the non-ticketed area.

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