Mr George W. Bush has taken a slim lead in the US presidential elections after the first round of voting, according to a new poll.
Under US voting rules, millions of people are eligible to vote before the official polling day, which is November 2 nd.
With nine per cent of likely voters having cast their ballots, Mr Bush holds the advantage over his challenger, Senator John Kerry.
Some 51 per cent backed the President for re-election and 47 per cent supported Mr Kerry, according to an ABC News survey.
However, ABC cautioned that the result of its latest poll is essentially a dead heat within the margin of error.
A Los Angeles Timessurvey also pointed to a national dead heat, with Mr Bush and Mr Kerry even at 48 per cent each.
The election race has been so tight for so long that some in Washington are now fearing that the result could be an even split. The close outcome of the last election created chaos when the fate of the nation hinged on the result in Florida, and a month of recounts ensued.
Eventually the Supreme Court ordered an end to the recount, meaning that Mr Bush beat Democrat Al Gore by just 537 votes in the state.
Under the US system, the President is not elected by the popular vote, rather by an electoral college system. Each state carries a certain number of electoral college votes (ECVs), and the first candidate to pass the 270 ECV marker wins. But numerous scenarios could see both men evenly tied on 269 ECVs each.
In the event, the House of Representatives would decide the outcome.
Each state would get a vote in the Republican-heavy House, guaranteeing victory for Mr Bush.
But there is another twist. Voters in Colorado will also be asked on election day whether they want to change the way the state casts its ECVs. If approved, the change would mean that, rather than giving all its votes to the candidate that the majority of the state backed, it would spread them proportionally between the rivals.
This could tip one man over the 270 mark.
Despite the complex scenarios, the race is likely to be decided in fewer than a dozen swing states. Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania have the greatest number of ECVs and are therefore the most bitterly contested. Latest polls have found the candidates in a dead heat in the three states.
AP