[Update 4: From WRAL: Edwards is acquitted of one count; mistrial is declared on the remaining five.]

[Update 3: CNN has a succinct report. The jury remains deadlocked on five of the six charges against Edwards, including the conspiracy charge. It reached agreement only on Count 3, which involved Bunny Mellon's money. The defense moved for the judge to announce the verdict on Count 3, obviously in the belief that it was the weakest charge and most likely to be the one they'd acquit on; it wanted the judge to declare a mistrial on the remaining five charges. The judge said no to both actions, so we don't know what the Count 3 verdict was as yet.

Because the laws on campaign contributions are so riddled with exceptions and work-arounds as to be completely useless as a shield against big money's influence in politics, I don't much care what the verdict on Edwards turns out to be. He probably will be found not guilty, but being not guilty of violating laws that it's almost impossible to violate is hardly any vindication. As I said before, the law ought to make it illegal for contributors to give huge sums of money to candidates—and for candidates to accept them—when they're in or running for public office. If that's not the case, and Duke Energy can give unlimited sums to Pat McCrory for his personal use, and McCrory can spend unlimited sums of his own money on his campaign—as he can—then you might as well give up entirely on having any limits on campaign contributions.]

[Update 2: WRAL is reporting that the jury reached a verdict on just one count; the judge sent them back to the jury room to keep talking about the other five charges without announcing what the decision was on Count 3: Bunny Mellon's money.]

[Update: No verdict yet. If you care, WRAL is streaming live coverage, waiting for word from inside the courthouse in Greensboro.]

***

My original post, before the jury came in the first time this afternoon:

While we wait. It should be illegal to give a candidate for public office hundreds of thousands of dollars for his personal use. Whether it is or not is another question.

Or rather, it's pretty clear, in the post Citizens United era, that it's not illegal at all.

Whether it was when Johnnie was raking in the money for the care and feeding of his mistress, I don't know.

Neither did the jury, apparently. At least, it took 'em awhile.

But as I say, it should be against the law if it isn't.

Gov. Bev Perdue issued an executive order telling DENR and Commerce to study how fracking can be undertaken safely in North Carolina. The two departments are to form a working group and reach out to the General Assembly, which is considering a couple of different Republican bills aimed at allowing fracking. The order is open-ended — no time limit is set.

Here's the order:

Perduefrackingorder.pdf

Perdue's statement:

“North Carolina needs a strong set of standards in place before we allow fracking here. If done safely, fracking can be part of a larger energy solution to create jobs and help lower energy costs. Before we permit anyone to ‘frack’ in North Carolina, however, we must hear from all sides, address all issues, and develop a robust set of rules.

First and foremost, those rules must put every necessary precaution into place to protect our drinking water and safeguard the health and safety of every single North Carolinian. The rules must also protect the interests of landowners and address the needs of county and municipal governments. “Today’s Executive Order will help to establish guidelines and create a framework for considering the type of standards that must be developed before any energy development begins.”

The gist of Perdue's statement seems to be, we're gonna be fracking, so let's get cracking.

President Obama finally declared himself: He thinks same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. He said he once favored civil unions as a way to recognize same-sex relationships without running into the "that's not a marriage" buzz saw. But you know what, civil unions — if properly defined in a statute — are the same as a marriage in the eyes of the law. And the law is all that politicians should care about. Leave the sacred trappings outside government's door.

It's obvious that the President waited until North Carolina voted to put himself on the record. Had he spoken up before the Amendment 1 vote, it wouldn't have changed the outcome. The polls made that much clear, not to mention the lopsided 61-39 percent vote in favor.

And, of course, a pre-N.C. vote statement by Obama most certainly would've been belittled as evidence, after Amendment 1 passed anyway, that people don't care what the President thinks.

Thirty-one states have now voted on the question of banning same-sex marriage, and all of them have come out in favor of banning it. But Minnesota, which will take up the question in a referendum this November, could break the string. Polls there show opinion to be closely divided.

In North Carolina, we're at rock bottom today. Mark this as the end of the beginning.

You can follow the returns with me as they come in on the State Board of Elections website.

[Update No. 2. It's midnight, and I've made one final pass at the numbers. With all the votes counted, the outcomes are the same as two hours ago. So again, I'll make a very few changes as needed and call it quits for the night.]

[Update: It's about 10 p.m. Roughly two-thirds of the precincts are in, and almost 2 million votes are counted statewide. Not much has changed, so I'll change the text below only as needed.}

Amendment 1 was approved with nearly some 61 percent of the vote. a tremendous disappointment. In October, when Public Policy Polling first tested it, Amendment 1 was favored 61-34 percent. That three-fifths majority held solid despite a strong effort by the amendment's opponents and $2.5 million poured into the opposition campaign.

The only grace note, if any: The amendment was rejected in Orange County (79 percent voted against); in Durham County (70 percent); in Wake County (57 percent), and in Chatham County (54 percent). So don't blame the Triangle. Don't blame Charlotte either, or Asheville: Mecklenburg and Buncombe counties also voted against by 54 and 51 percent, respectively.

In other elections of interest, it looks like Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton will be the Democratic nominee for governor, beating former Congressman Bob Etheridge by a 46-38 percent tally; ormer state Rep. Linda Coleman, D-Wake, is the nominee for lieutenant governor.

In Wake County, it appears that Wake Commissioners Chair Paul Coble will still be with us going forward.

Coble is losing lost his U.S. House District 13 primary to George Holding, who if he wins will have bought it fair and square with his family's money. Holding is at about 44 percent, enough to avoid a runoff. Coble trails by about 10 points. Bill Randall is pulling a respectable, and somewhat surprising, 22 percent.

Coble's defeat is bad news for transit proponents who hoped he'd be on his way to Washington and no longer an impediment to getting the 1/2-cent sales tax for transit in front of Wake County voters this fall.

Coble's mate on the commissioners, Tony Gurley, is locked in a three-way struggle for two placesfinished second in a five-way primary and qualified for a runoff for lieutenant governor, GOP-nomination category. Assuming Gurley wants it, the runoff will be against front-runner Dan Forrest, who got 33 percent to Gurley's 25 percent. The House Speaker Pro Tem, Dale Folwell, finished with 24 percent, unexpectedly failing to make it into the top two.

By the way, if either Gurley or Coble — or both — should move up, they'dhe'd be replaced by another Republican. Thus, a 4-3 Republican majority would continue on the county board.

Still, if they leave the supposedly pro-transit Republican Commssioner Joe Bryan might be allowed to take charge. With Coble and Gurley aboard, Bryan's strictly a petty officer.

Then there's our trio of Wake County school board members, Republicans all, looking to get out of Dodge Cary (where the school board offices are) after what we'll tastefully term an eventful two-and-a-half in charge of the schools.

Chris Malone, of Wake Forest, looks like he's won his primary— for the District 35 seat in the state House of Representatives. House 35 is overwhelmingly Republican, and no Democrat will oppose Malone, who prevailed if does indeed prevail over Wendell businessman Duane Cutlip. Malone won by 57-43 percent. Malone will run in the fall against Democrat Lori Millberg, an ex-school board member who was unopposed in her primary.

John Tedesco aspires to be state superintendent of public instruction. He appears to have won a spot in a runoff for the GOP nomination — the winner to challenge Democratic incumbent June Atkinson.

Debra Goldman sees herself as the next state auditor. She, too, appears to be is one of the two candidates who will move on to a runoff. She''ll square off against Greg Dority, a perennial GOP candidate. We were hoping former state Sen. Fern Shubert, would make it; she's an actual auditor — CPA — and a bona fide government watchdog. But Shubert's in third place so far.But Shubert finished third.

Tedesco and Goldman were both involved in five-person primaries, so getting to a runoff ain't bad.

Finally, there's our old friend Kenn Gardner, who's apparently decided being an architect isn't for him and instead would like the no-heavy-lifting job of being state Secretary of State. He was in a four-way GOP primary and battling for one of the two runoff positions. The winner takes on Sec of State Elaine Marshall.

As 10 o'clock approached, Gardner was a solid second in the field and also heads into a runoff against Ed (Eddy) Goodwin, chair of the Chowan County Board of Commissioners.

Another race we were watching that didn't turn out to be a race at all. In state House District 38, Yvonne Holley is the runaway winner in the Democratic primary over second-place finisher Abeni El-Amin. Our friend Lee Sartain, the only openly gay candidate on the ballot, finished a dismal third.

District 38 is majority-black. Holley, with long family ties to the African-American community in Raleigh, won about 60 percent of the vote. El-Amin, also black, got about 25 percent. Sartain picked up 14 percent.

No Republicans filed in this district.