The "polls" have been closed in Oregon for nearly five hours now, and the counting of the ballots cast on the Portland school tax bond measures has been proceeding apace. The construction bond is trailing, 47.5% to 52.5%, and the operating levy is winning, 55.6% to 44.4%. As of 12:13 a.m., here are the results [all figures updated as of 1:49 a.m.]:

The current operating levy is $1.25 per $1,000, and so the school district is getting a 59.2% increase in its operating levy for the next five years.

Meanwhile, down in Clackamas County, the $5 vehicle registration fee for the replacement of the Sellwood Bridge in Portland is being shellacked. The current vote tally is 22,612 yes to 38,774 no.

If they continue through the final count, these results are encouraging. Even the sheeple voters of Portland area are smart enough to see that priorities are skewed and government is overreaching. Whether it's a reliable trend is unclear, but between the rejection of "clean money" elections last November and now the defeat of the school construction bond, there may be hope for the place yet.

Especially gratifying would be the defeat of a heavily financed propaganda campaign run by "Winning" Mark Wiener. Are we ever weary of that guy and his direct mail election porn.

UPDATE, 1:53 a.m.: At this hour, the Portland school construction bond is behind by 3,269 votes. It's always hard to figure out how many votes are still to be counted, but Multnomah County shows 144,495 ballots turned in, and 112,674 counted so far. That would leave more than 31,000 votes yet to be counted -- but not all of the county is in the Portland school district. The most recent batch of votes released in Multnomah were in favor of both school tax measures.

UPDATE, 7:00 a.m.: We have an update on the election results here.