US Elections 2012: Americans vote after long, bitter campaign

WASHINGTON DC:

Capping a long and bitter campaign, Americans began casting their votes at polling stations across the country on Tuesday, with many polls showing a statistical dead heat between President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney. However, it seems that swing states, most notably Ohio, could be the deciding factor in the state-by-state contest.

At least 120 million people are expected to render judgment on whether to give President Obama a second term or replace him with Republican challenger Romney.

The Democratic incumbent has a slight advantage in several vital swing states  most notably Ohio - that could give him the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

Multiple US news organizations have mentioned the possibility of an Ohio recount, with The New York Times reporting that if the margin is as narrow as predicted, the world may not know the winner until December. The state’s recount procedure is lengthy, and could produce results weeks late.

Poll “guru” Nate Silver, who writes the fivethirtyeight blog for The New York Times has currently pushed Obama’s chances of re-election to 92.2% with 315.3 electoral votes. Silver garnered respect after accurately predicting the results of 49 of 50 states in the 2008 election.

Obama and Romney battled down to the wire on Tuesday, mounting a last-minute Election Day drive to get their supporters to the polls in a handful of states that will decide the winner in a neck-and-neck race for the White House.

Romney, the multimillionaire former head of a private equity firm, would be the first Mormon president and one of the wealthiest Americans to occupy the White House. Obama, the first black president, is vying to be the first Democrat to win a second term since Bill Clinton in 1996.

Ohio matters

Obama and Romney raced through seven battleground states on Monday to hammer home their final themes, urge supporters to get to the polls and woo the last remaining undecided voters.

Obama focused on Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa, the three Midwestern swing states that, barring surprises elsewhere, would ensure that he reaches the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Romney visited the must-win states of Florida, Virginia and Ohio before finishing in New Hampshire.

The common denominator for both candidates is Ohio. Without the state’s 18 electoral votes, the path to victory becomes very narrow for Romney.

Polls have shown Obama with a small but steady lead in the state for months, sparked in part by his support for a federal bailout of the auto industry, which accounts for one of every eight jobs in Ohio, and by a strong state economy with an unemployment rate lower than the 7.9% national rate. That undercut the central argument of Romney’s campaign - that his business experience made him uniquely qualified to create jobs and lead an economic recovery.

Boosting turnout

The first results, by tradition, were tallied in Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location, both in New Hampshire, shortly after midnight (0500 GMT). Obama and Romney each received five votes in Dixville Notch. In Hart’s Location, Obama had 23 votes to nine for Romney and two for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

The close presidential race raises the prospect of a disputed outcome similar to the 2000 election, which ended with a US Supreme Court decision favoring George W Bush over Al Gore after legal challenges to the close vote in Florida. Both the Romney and Obama campaigns have assembled legal teams to deal with possible voting problems, challenges or recounts.

Obama’s Democrats are now expected to narrowly hold their Senate majority, while Romney’s Republicans are favored to retain House control.

(With additional input from news desk)

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2012.

You can watch a slideshow of pictures from the elections here.