Sure, you can follow the election at home, on TV or — for those households with no TV — obsessively reloading CNN ^[1] and the New York Times ^[2] until 4 in the morning. But it’s a lot more fun to get out of the house and watch the early returns with a big crowd of people, isn’t it? Thus:

The Yerba Buena Center ^[3], from 6:00 to 11:00 PM, will be the site of a
a huge non-partisan election night party, complete with free pizza after 8, a cash bar, big walls to scribble and draw on, and live music, DJs and dance performances along with big-screen TVs tuned to PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, “and everybody’s favorite, Fox News.” (They said it was non-partisan!) Check out the event page and humorous “press conference” here ^[4]. Admission is free.

Over at Mezzanine ^[5], the San Francisco Obama campaign is having its official Counting-the-Chickens-As-They-Hatch party, and you can go too. Doors at 6:00. Admission is likewise free, but you should probably RSVP here ^[6]. (Although I’m betting you can probably just wander in too, later on in the night.)

For those partisans out there, the Democratic Party will be here ^[7], and the Republican Party will be here ^[8].

Or you can go to any of these great events, too ^[9]. To summarize: between Elixir, The Retox Lounge, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker’s, and Edinburgh Castle, you just can’t go wrong. And out in the Sunset at The Riptide ^[10], they’ll be playing the Daily Show election night special and offering their drinks at Depression-era prices. How appropriate!

Still undecided? Reload SFist ^[11] in the morning and see what Brock hath wrought ^[12].

And wherever you end up — out on the town or just out on your couch — The Huffington Post ^[13] has this interesting guide to watching Election Night Results ^[14]. Don’t skip it — it’s worth reading!