Obama has apparent lead in among early voters

WASHINGTON:President Barack Obama heads toward Election Day with an apparent lead over Mitt Romney among early voters in key states that could decide the election, Washington Post reported on Sunday.

According to the post, Obama’s advantage isn’t as big as the one he had over John McCain four years ago, giving Romney’s campaign hope that the former Massachusetts governor can erase the gap when people vote on Tuesday.

It said more than 27 million people already have voted in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

No votes will be counted until Election Day but several battleground states are releasing the party affiliation of people who have voted early, it added.

According to the paper, so far, Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio — five states that could decide the election, if they voted the same way. Republicans have the edge in Colorado, which Obama won in 2008.

It reported, in Colorado, Florida and Ohio, get ready for a long night of vote counting on Tuesday.

The paper said quoting Romney’s campaign aides they are doing so much better than McCain did four years ago that Romney is in great shape to overtake Obama in many of the most competitive states.

It added that Obama’s campaign counters that Romney can’t win the presidency simply by doing better than McCain.

About 35 percent of voters are expected to cast ballots before Tuesday, either by mail or in person.

The newspaper said voters always can cross party lines when they vote for any office, and there are enough independent voters in many states to swing the election, if enough of them vote the same way. Still, both campaigns are following the early voting numbers closely, using them to gauge their progress and plan their Election Day strategies.