奥巴马发表讲话时热泪盈眶

　　Voters across the United States are marching towards poll stations on Tuesday to choose their next president between incumbent Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney。

　　Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (L) and his wife Ann Romney emerge from the Beech Street Center after casting their ballots at on November 6, 2012 in Belmont, Massachusetts. The race for the presidency remains tight as Americans are heading to the polls to cast their ballots。

　　The Election Day voting started in the tiny town of Dixville Notch in New Hampshire immediately after midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST) (0500 GMT)。

史上最胶着的竞选

　　After 43 seconds of voting, Obama and Romney each had 5 votes in the town, where the first voter, Tanner Tillotson, was fixed by lottery drawing shortly before the voting。

　　"It's definitely a great honor. This is actually the second time I've been selected. I also was selected back in 2008, when I also had the honor to be the first person to vote for President Obama," said Tillotson。

　　First daytime polls opened at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT) in northeastern Vermont, a safe Democratic state. Only several locations in the state opened that early, while most opened at 6 a.m. (1100 GMT)。

　　At 6 a.m., polls were opened in the battleground state of Virginia, as well as a host of states across the East Coast, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine and the rest of New Hampshire and Vermont, and meanwhile in Indiana and Kentucky。

　　"I vote for President Obama for President. I think his balanced approach to fixing some of our fiscal problems as well as his leadership on foreign policy and his commitment to making sure everybody pays their fair share and play by the same rules, I think it's worthy of my vote," said David Bevevino, who voted in Virginia。

　　Another Virginia voter, Joe Hunsader, said: "I voted for Romney ... The deficit under the last four years has been way too much. We've got to do something about the deficit and reduce federal spending."

　　About half an hour later, election sites were open in the important battleground of Ohio, almost bringing to an end the intense competition for the state's 18 electoral votes。

　　Romney and his wife Ann cast their ballots Tuesday before he headed to Ohio and Pennsylvania for last-minute efforts there。

　　The Romneys voted near their home at the Beech Street Center in the town of Belmont, Massachusetts, the same location where they voted in the Republican primary in March。

　　U.S. Vice President Joe Biden were among the first voters at a polling place in his home state of Delaware。

　　Obama cast his own vote 12 days before Election Day to encourage early voting that tends to favor Democrats。

　　Long queues were reported at the polling stations across the country on the Election Day. Turnout was heavy in several areas in New York and New Jersey, where superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc and many voters expressed relief and even elation at being able to vote。

　　New Jersey voters queued up amid rubble and rotting rubbish left by Sandy as election officials managed to open most makeshift polling stations on time, amid complaints from voters about the poor voting facilities or circumstances there。

　　In Hoboken, which lies just across the Hudson River from New York City and was struck by Sandy last week, one of the makeshift polling stations opened 40 minutes late with about 60 people waiting in the sharp morning chill。

　　The polls were slated to last the whole day across the United States, with the first results expected to come in after polls close at 7 p.m. (0000 GMT Wednesday) in Virginia, which has 13 electoral votes and is especially important to Romney. Other states' polls will close later。

　　However, a projection of the election results will not be expected before later in the night, as most battleground states may produce too-close-to-call results。

　　The last polls are to close 1 a.m. Wednesday (0600 GMT) in Alaska, a safe Republican state。

　　美国总统大选大约有选民1.5亿，投票时间1天，除选总统还选举468名国会议员及11名州长。

　　美国东部时间6日零时(北京时间6日13时)刚过，美国新罕布什尔州迪克斯维尔山口的选民率先开始投票，这标志着四年一度的美国总统选举投票正式开始。

　　中午时分初步揭晓

　　美国大多数地区的投票将于美国东部时间6日上午至当日晚间进行，将从美国现任总统奥巴马和马萨诸塞州前州长罗姆尼两人中选出美国第57届总统。尽管计票工作会持续较长时间，但基本反映选举结果的投票站出口民调结果在6日深夜(北京时间7日中午)将会揭晓。

　　除总统外，大选还将改选33名国会参议员、全部435名国会众议员、11名州长和部分地方官员。预计共和党将保住众议院多数席位，而民主党将勉强守住参议院多数席位。

　　由于美国经济复苏乏力，失业率也一直居高不下，因此经济政策是本次总统竞选议题的重中之重。核心议题是联邦政府在改善美国人生活方面应发挥什么作用，包括如何降低高企的失业率，如何削减一万多亿美元联邦财政赤字和超过16万亿美元公共债务。

　　美国总统由全国选民投票选举，但并非选民直选产生，而是实行选举人团制。选民投票产生的是代表50个州和哥伦比亚特区的538名选举人。总统候选人获得超过半数选举人票(至少270张)即可获胜。

　　选举结果难以预测

　　近期的全国民调显示，奥巴马与罗姆尼的支持率一直不相上下，美国政治专家普遍认为本次选举结果难以预测。

　　皮尤调查中心在投票日前发布的最后一项民调结果显示，部分得益于应对飓风“桑迪”时的表现，奥巴马民意支持率为48%，领先罗姆尼3个百分点。这项民调误差率为正负2.2个百分点。其他机构发布的民调结果同样显示奥巴马稍稍领先罗姆尼，且在多个“摇摆州”略占优势。新华社电/专稿

　　竞选

　　结束漫长竞选 奥巴马泪洒当场

　　竞选活动在艾奥瓦州到达终点，奥巴马求选民允其连任

　　当地时间5日晚，奥巴马在艾奥瓦州结束了他长达数月的竞选活动，在这场选举投票前夜的竞选活动上，奥巴马禁不住泪洒当场。

　　从今年夏天被确定为民主党候选人以来，奥巴马一直奔波于美国各州，举行一场又一场的竞选集会，向选民宣讲自己的主张，争取选票。

　　5日晚，竞选活动在艾奥瓦州到达终点。这里也是他当初开始竞选长跑的地方。

　　“今天，我再次返回艾奥瓦州，是希望求得你们的支持。”面对大约20000名站在寒风中的支持者，奥巴马说。“我回到这里，是希望你们帮助我们完成最初的梦想，因为这里是我们变革行动的发源地。”

　　奥巴马说，“过去四年，我们已经取得了成绩，但我们今天聚集在这里，是因为还有更多的工作要做，还有更长的路要走。”

　　奥巴马对他的支持者表示感谢，称后者教会了他为了希望不懈努力。

　　“为了实现改变，你们一直艰苦努力，对你们所有的人，我想说声谢谢。你们参与到这场选战中，并把它当成自己的事业。”说到这里，奥巴马不禁湿了双眼。他抬起手，擦了擦溢出眼眶的泪水。

　　奥巴马还鼓励他的支持者，自己四年前所说的“改变”一定能实现。

　　“假如你能改变你的房间，那你就能改变一个城市，如果你能改变一个城市，那你就能改变一个州，如果你能改变一个州，那你就能改变整个国家。”奥巴马说。(百千)

　　候选人

　　贝拉克·奥巴马

　　1961年出生在夏威夷，父亲是来自肯尼亚的留学[微博]生，母亲是堪萨斯州白人。奥巴马从小由母亲抚养。奥巴马两岁多时，父母婚姻破裂。6岁时，奥巴马随母亲和继父前往印尼生活。奥巴马先后毕业于哥伦比亚大学和哈佛大学法学院，后成为一名律师，并在芝加哥大学法学院教宪法。奥巴马1997年进入政坛，2008年11月当选美国第56届总统，成为美历史上首位非洲裔总统。

　　米特·罗姆尼

　　罗姆尼1947年3月12日出生在一个摩门教世家。其父曾任密歇根州州长。罗姆尼毕业于哈佛大学商学院[微博]。1984年，他与人合伙开办投资公司贝恩资本公司，很快成为一名身价数亿美元的企业家。罗姆尼1999年弃商从政，2002年当选马萨诸塞州州长。罗姆尼曾参加2008年总统竞选，同年2月宣布退出总统竞选。罗姆尼2011年6月宣布参加2012年总统竞选。(据新华社电)

　　声音

　　现在是选民的时间

　　竞选前夜，在“摇摆战场”和国家性的民调中，奥巴马都处于微弱的领先地位，现在是让这场持久战速决的时候了，也是选民们发表自己的意见、用选票说话的时候了。民调显示，奥巴马的支持率达50%，而罗姆尼则有47%。现在，选民手里的选票就是他们的武器和代言人，替他们选出美国新总统。

　　——《华盛顿邮报》

　　飓风为奥巴马加分

　　突如其来的飓风“桑迪”无疑让奥巴马在竞选中得到了更多机会展现自己，纽约市长布隆伯格也表示奥巴马在任期内对环境治理做了突出贡献。奥巴马在最后一天连去三个州拉票的同时仍将救灾提上日程也为他加分不少，而罗姆尼在这方面上没有得到话语权。

　　——《华尔街日报》

　　史上最胶着的竞选

　　截至目前，奥巴马和罗姆尼的竞选战可以说是美国大选历史上最胶着的一次了。奥巴马在摇摆州有领先的优势，但是罗姆尼紧随其后，选民的热情正在随着最后日期的临近而逐渐高涨，但按照现在的情况来看，谁会登上总统席位的最后决定权，将掌握在少数的几个州手里。

　　——《芝加哥论坛报》(记者：韩旭阳 来源：新京报)