The country knew who its next president would be late in the evening of Election Day. But despite a nationwide push to electronic voting, some municipalities took days longer to finish counting their votes. Larry Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice looks at technologies and systems that worked during this year's election, and at voting processes that fell short of the mark in counting the vote.

As members of the House and Senate head to Capitol Hill for the final weeks of this Congress, perhaps they will bring the "Spirit of 2010" with them. Despite partisan bickering, the lame-duck session two years ago got big things done. Then again, those lawmakers weren't being asked to avert a fiscal cliff.

Some analysts are saying that Republicans appear to have the long-range advantage over Democrats when it comes to winning enough seats to control the House, not so much because of redistricting but because of the clustering of Democratic voters in fewer congressional districts.

A new Pew post-election survey also finds voters pessimistic about partisan cooperation, and still most concerned about the economy and jobs.

There has been no dearth of post-election Republican self-flagellation. But the party is still sorting out solutions, wrangling over whether its problems lie in its positions on issues ranging from immigration to women's reproductive health, or simply in its sales job with the voting public.

The newly re-elected president indicated that he, not congressional Republicans, reflected more of the popular will, with his call for higher taxes on the wealthy as part of any agreement to avert the fiscal cliff.

Sen.-elect Angus King of Maine, who cruised to victory last week running as an independent, said Wednesday that he will caucus with Senate Democrats, giving them in effect a 55-45 seat advantage next year.

The Obama re-election campaign was informed by its deep dive into data on millions of voters. Some Republicans worry they're way behind in modern campaigning; others note that political science isn't rocket science, and say they can do just as well or better in 2016.