Poll: Election too close to call in Fla.
Orlando Business Journal
A new poll released Wednesday finds Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama leading Republican opponent John McCain in Florida and two other key swing states.
With less than a week to go before Election Day, Obama has leads in Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to Quinnipiac University's Presidential Swing States poll. But in Florida, the state that decided the 2000 contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore, it's still "too close to call," the poll finds. Obama leads McCain in the Sunshine State by a margin of two points: 47 percent to 45 percent.
"If Sen. Barack Obama can take Florida, he could match, or come close to, President Bill Clinton 's re-election margin in 1996, carrying all three of the big swing states en route to rolling up 379 Electoral College votes," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement. "The last challenger to win the Big Three was Ronald Reagan, who tallied 489 Electoral College votes in his 1980 landslide."
The poll questioned 1,435 Florida likely voters between Oct. 22 and Oct. 26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent.
Long lines at the polls prompted Gov. Charlie Crist to sign an executive order on Tuesday, extending voting times to 12 hours a day.
Early voting sites statewide will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Oct. 31. Sat., Nov. 1 and Sun., Nov. 2, polls will be open a total of 12 hours, to be determined by the supervisors of elections in the individual counties.
“I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote,” Crist said.
Early voting began on Oct. 20 and runs through Nov. 2.
Florida voters also have until Oct. 29 to request absentee ballots be mailed to them.
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