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Obama holds narrow edge two weeks ahead of election: Reuters/Ipsos poll

U.S. President Barack Obama looks out at the crowd at a campaign rally in Delray, Florida October 23, 2012. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama looks out at the crowd at a campaign rally in Delray, Florida October 23, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON | Tue Oct 23, 2012 2:36pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pulled slightly ahead of Republican Mitt Romney in a Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll on Tuesday, but the race remained essentially tied with two weeks to go until the November 6 election.

Obama led Romney among likely voters by a statistically insignificant margin of 1 percentage point, 47 percent to 46 percent. The four-day online tracking poll includes some responses taken after the two candidates' final televised debate, but the full impact will not register for several days.

Obama maintains a larger advantage in the state-by-state battle that will determine the outcome of the election. Ipsos projects that Obama holds an edge in the most hotly contested states, including Florida, Virginia and Ohio, and is likely to win by a relatively comfortable margin of 332 electoral votes to 206 electoral votes.

The poll has reflected a tight race since shortly after the two candidates met for their first debate on October 3. But a substantial portion of voters remain up for grabs. Roughly 20 percent of those surveyed say they could switch their votes or have not yet made up their minds.

Among the larger pool of registered voters, Obama leads Romney 46 percent to 42 percent.

The accuracy of Reuters/Ipsos online polls are measured using a credibility interval. The survey of 1,030 likely voters has a credibility interval of 3.5 percentage points.

(This story corrects electoral vote estimate)

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Stacey Joyce)

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Comments (44)
Sensibility wrote:
Watch the debate, and it’s a wonder Obama has anyone still supporting him.

Oct 22, 2012 9:57pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
Alan1965 wrote:
I wonder if Sensibility was watching the same debate. Obama won, hands down.

Oct 22, 2012 11:24pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
todnwth wrote:
Those who are going to vote for a party no debate will change their minds or any facts will change their minds.
Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, Coulter, Wallace, Ailes, Murdoch, and others of their like would vote the republican ticket if a chimp was heading the ticket!!

Oct 23, 2012 12:48pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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