WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has extended his narrow lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney among likely voters in a race that remains statistically tied nine days before the election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released yesterday.
Obama has a 49 percent to 46 percent edge over Romney, marking a one point increase from Saturday but still within the daily online survey’s four percentage-point credibility interval for likely voters.
Swings could be possible in the remaining days of the campaign, however. Fifteen percent of registered voters say they could still change their minds and vote for a different candidate.
The precision of Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points for likely voters.
Meanwhile, newspapers in Ohio said yesterday that Romney has drawn even with his rival in the state. “49-49: Dead Heat,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer front page headline blared, citing the latest poll from the Ohio News Organization Poll.
Several other newspapers, including the Columbus Dispatch and the Cincinnati Enquirer, highlighted the same data on their front pages yesterday, when Romney arrives in the state for a full day of campaigning. He returns to the state today as well.
The group’s September 13-18 survey showed Obama ahead 51-46, but as in several other hot spots, the polls have tightened ahead of the November 6 election.
The closely watched poll average compiled by website RealClearPolitics had Obama ahead 2.3 percentage points on Saturday, but by yesterday his advantage had slipped to 1.9 points.
However, the latest Ohio news poll, of 1,015 likely voters, is not the absolute latest snapshot; it was conducted October 18-23, whereas the final presidential debate occurred on October 22.
Agencies
