The final presidential race is tied nationally, according to a poll from Fox News released Wednesday night.
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney each earn the support of 46 percent of likely voters nationwide, a slight change from the previous Fox poll that was conducted shortly after the first presidential debate on Oct. 3. That poll showed Romney edging Obama by a point.
From Fox’s analysis:
Independents give the edge to Romney by seven percentage points (46-39 percent). That’s down from a 12-point advantage in early October.
There’s a gender gap in vote preference, as men back Romney by 51-42 percent, while women side with Obama by 50-42 percent.
The new Fox poll finds Obama under-performing compared to his 2008 exit poll numbers by 13 percentage points among independents, 9 points among white men, 6 points among women and 4 points among voters under age 30.
Among the subgroup of most interested voters, those who are “extremely” interested in the election, Romney leads Obama by 53-42 percent.
The latest poll was conducted Oct. 28-30 using live phone interviews with 1,182 likely voters across the country. Fox noted that interviews with respondents in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy were conducted before Monday evening. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Obama claims a lead of a little more than a point in the PollTracker Average.
