Presidential Polls Florida: Latest Projection Shows Obama, Romney Tied
As the 2012 presidential election winds down to its final days, the candidates and their campaigns are focusing intensely on a group of important battleground states where the race is presently too close to call, but where the entire election could ultimately be decided.
According to The Huffington Post's Electoral College map projection, which is based on an analysis of various nationwide and state by state polling data, the four states still in the toss up pile as of Saturday are Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.
Those states represent a total of 66 electoral votes - a hefty sum considering each candidate needs a total of 270 electoral votes to successfully win the election. That sum would be incredibly valuable to either candidate, based on The Huffington Post's current projection, which has President Barack Obama at 281 electoral votes and Mitt Romney at 191 votes.
By far, the most valuable swing state still up for grabs is Florida, which offers a whopping 29 electoral votes to the candidate who can carry the state on Nov. 6.
According to The Huffington Post's data analysis, the race in Florida is completely deadlocked at this point. Obama and Romney are tied, with each candidate polling at 48 percent in the Sunshine State.
But the race is not as tight based on the latest data from national polling firm Rasmussen.
In that poll, Romney is ahead of Obama, with the Republican nominee enjoying support from 50 percent of Florida voters surveyed. Obama lags behind by two percentage points with 48 percent. Of the remaining respondents included in the survey, 1 percent is still undecided about how they will cast their ballot on Nov. 6.
Most voters still have three days before they vote, but a significant portion of Florida voters have already cast their ballot through early voting.
"Florida has early voting, and 23 percent of voters in the state have already cast a ballot," the Rasmussen report said. "Obama is ahead 54 percent to 44 percent among those voters who've already voted. Last week, Romney led Obama among this group of voters."
