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Jaylynn Notafraid, 9, sits amid voting booths in the gym at Crow Elementary School in Crow Agency in Montana.
# US 2012
Obama or Romney? Voters go to the polls in US presidential election
Tens of millions of Americans will cast their vote today as the US presidential election reaches its conclusion.
AFTER MONTHS OF campaigns and billions of dollars in spending, voters in the United States are going to the polls today to either re-elect Barack Obama or elect his Republican challenger Mitt Romney as president for the next four years.
Though 30 million voters across the country have already cast their vote a further 100 million could have their say today if turnout is similar to that of 2008.
They have already voted in the tiny New Hampshire village of Dixville Notch where the closeness of the race was underlined by Obama and Romney each receiving five votes.
The first-in-the-nation vote, held earlier today, was tied for the first time in its history though it is not considered a national bellweather.
Both candidates addressed rallies last night with Romney in Florida, Virginia, New Hampshire and Ohio.
Obama, in what was his last ever election rally, brought out the stars in Bruce Sprinsteen and Jay-Z as he appeared in Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio.
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Romney is extending his campaign into election day itself visiting Ohio – where Obama holds a slight lead – and Pennsylvania – where the Republican hopes to cause an upset – today.
It is an unusual but not unprecedented move that underscores the closeness of the race as the former Massachusetts governor looks to gain a few last votes.
The final polls show Obama with a lead ranging from between 1 and 3 percentage points which means that statistically the race is neck-and-neck although state polls appear to give the incumbent the edge in the electoral college.
There is a possibility that a candidate could lose the popular vote but win the electoral college – where votes are in proportion to a states population – and be elected.
The first polls close just after midnight Irish Time tonight and results should start to come in through the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Read: 11 fictional US presidents we’d like to vote for
