Obama, Romney in tight races in four pivotal states

U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney remained essentially tied in four swing states seen as determining the winner of the White House race in Tuesday's election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.   

The Democratic incumbent and former Massachusetts governor are both spending the weekend in final swings through the few states they hope will help them win on Tuesday.   

In possibly the single most crucial swing state of Ohio, Obama broadened his slim lead among likely voters to 48 percent compared to Romney's 44 percent. On Saturday, Obama had a
1-point lead in Ohio in the same poll.   

The two were tied in Colorado and in Florida, at 48 percent and 46 percent respectively, Sunday's online poll showed.   

In Virginia, Obama held on to a slim lead of 47 percent to Romney's 46 percent among likely voters.  

 All of the results are within the polls' credibility intervals, a tool used to account for statistical variation in Internet-based polling.  


REUTERS