Scene and heard on Election Night

When CNN called Ohio, the crowd at the favored watering hole of Atlanta Democrats nearly tore the roof off — even in the parking lot, where roughly 250 Election Night tailgaters had gathered. They serenaded the pronouncement of Obama’s re-election with a stirring version of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Then, a group exhale.

“You have no idea,” said Thomas Stewart, 27, of Athens, adding he was convinced Republican nominee Mitt Romney would prevail. “I have such a feeling of joy.”

Other local Democrats played it cool.

“I was pretty confident,” said Mari McMurray, 24, of Atlanta. “I trusted Nate Silver,” she said, referring to the New York Times stat cruncher who forecast an Obama victory and called 49 of 50 states correctly in 2008. “He was right again.”

No election hangover for Libertarians

There is a freedom in knowing your candidate is going to lose.

The Gary Johnson for President placards already were being given away around 9:30 p.m., well before the election was called.

No doubt that, of all the election night parties, the Libertarian bash, at Famous Pub in Toco Hills, was the most relaxed.

“It’s not going to kill me if the better of two evils doesn’t win,” said Andrew Hayes, 24, of Atlanta.

Hayes preferred GOP nominee Mitt Romney but said he would sleep well regardless of who prevailed.

“At least I voted for what I believe in,” he said.

What about those who say Libertarians throw away their vote by voting for a candidate with no chance of winning?

“We live in Georgia. A Republican is going to win easily,” said Sean Hammac, 28, of Atlanta. He cast a Libertarian ballot for the first time Tuesday but said he would’ve voted for Romney if he lived in a battleground state.

“I will be disappointed if Romney doesn’t win, but I won’t be crushed,” said Hammac, who nabbed a Johnson poster on his way out the door.

Sign of the times?

It takes some courage to put up a Mitt Romney sign in Virginia-Highland, which leans decidedly left.

“I had signs stolen, damaged, you name it,” said John Jugovic, who lives on Highland Avenue in the heart of the upscale Atlanta neighborhood.

But Jugovic, 56, would not be deterred, hoisting a Romney placard, 2 feet by 3 feet, on a string hung between a second-floor porch and a telephone poll. Vandals couldn’t reach it, but some of his neighbors were less than thrilled.

“There were some people on some of the blogs who were complaining about it being too big,” said Jugovic, who’s lived in Virginia-Highland for 24 years. But many others supported him, including his next-door neighbor, who has an Obama sign in her front yard.

“Actually, I ended up getting more compliments than complaints,” he said. “There’s a lot of closet Romney supporters around here.”

Popcorn and an election

The Plaza Theatre, which is in the midst of an Alfred Hitchcok retrospective, screened a different type of thriller Tuesday night.

Election results were streamed live on the big screen as the venerable movie house held its first “Totally Non-Partisan Election Party.”

“The idea is to get people to think of the Plaza as a community hub,” said Christopher Escobar, executive director of the Atlanta Film Festival, which helps manage the theatre.

The party was set to continue until a winner was determined.

“This is the first time my vote counts”

Fellow voters cheered as Ethiopian native Zewdu Bekele prepared to cast his ballot at Snellville’s Annistown Road Baptist Church.

“It’s been an amazing day for me,” said the first-time voter, who moved to the United States in 2005 and became a citizen a year ago. “I put my voter sticker on and no one’s going to take it off me.”

The truck driver and father of a 4-year-old son said though he had voted in Ethiopia, “This is the first time my vote counts.”

“It’s amazing how freely you can vote, for whomever you believe in … without any external pressure on you,” said Bekele, noting how, in one recent Ethiopian election, the ruling party received “99.7 percent of the vote.”

His vote Tuesday also made the 41-year-old feel “truly American.”

“Today, the only thing I can’t do is be president,” he said.

Think twice before posting ballot pics

It’s the latest election fad: documenting your ballot with a photograph and posting it online. A search for “#vote” on Instagram’s Explorer tab turned up more than 650,000 photo results as of 4:45 p.m.

But Georgia voters should tread carefully. According to the Citizen Media Law Group, Georgia is among the states that prohibit the use of photographic and recording equipment inside polling places. In fact, disclosing marked ballots is illegal in a majority of states.

Cast a vote, win a Glock

Business was booming Tuesday at Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna, where voters (and non-voters) could enter to win a free handgun or rifle.

Store owner Jay Wallace said roughly 2,300 customers had entered the raffle as of 4:30 p.m.

“That’s about four times the customers we usually have on a weekday,” said Wallace, who started the raffle as an incentive to vote. Non-voters weren’t prohibited from entering, as that would break a state law prohibiting anyone from giving or receiving money or merchandise in exchange for voting.

As you’d expect, “the vast majority” of Adventure Outdoors customers are supporters of GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Wallace said.

“But not all of them,” he said. “We just want people to participate in the system.”