Obama and Romney in virtual tie in Swing States: poll

US President Barack Obama is nearly tied with his presumptive Republican rival Mitt Romney in 12 battleground States, a latest opinion poll has said.

The poll after Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee was carried out by USA Today and Gallup according to which the two leaders are nearly tied – 45% vs 47% respectively - among registered voters in the 12 battleground states.

Romney is better positioned today than he was in March, when USA Today/Gallup found Obama leading by nine percentage points among swing-state voters.

Romney now roughly matches his standing earlier in the year, before he secured the Republican nomination.

Interviews were conducted among registered voters in 12 states where the presidential race is expected to be closely contested: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

While Obama edges out Romney by two points in the overall preferences of swing-state registered voters, he has a four-point advantage with respect to solid supporters: 36 % of swing-state voters say they are certain they will vote for Obama in November, while 32% are certain they will vote for Romney.

Each candidate's remaining supporters - the 11% who favor Obama and the 13% favoring Romney - say there is a chance they could change their mind between now and the election.

An additional 7% of voters are undecided, meaning a total of 31 % of swing-state voters are not firmly committed at this time.

According to the poll, Obama's swing-state prospects also look a bit brighter than Romney's on the basis of voter enthusiasm. More than half of Obama's supporters, 55%, are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting in this year's presidential election, up from 49% saying this in March.

By contrast, 46% of Romney's supporters are extremely or very enthusiastic, unchanged from 47% in March. Today's figures reflect a reversal from January, when 55% of Romney voters were extremely or very enthusiastic, compared with 50% of Obama voters, the poll said.

First Published: May 08, 2012 10:26 IST