US Election 2012: President Obama votes early

Early morning on October 26 (Vietnam time), US President Barack Obama took advantage of his campaign break to return to his hometown of Illinois to vote early for the presidential election which will not officially take place until November 6.

Thus, Mr. Obama became the first incumbent president of the United States to vote in person before election day.

Although the official election day is only 12 days away, at 4:20 p.m. local time, President Obama went to vote at the Martin Luther King Community Center in Chicago.

US President Barack Obama. (Source: VNA)

Mr. Obama's campaign hopes this unprecedented move will encourage the current US President's supporters to make a similar decision.

Many US states now allow voters to cast ballots before the official election day.

Statistics show that, so far, 18% of registered voters have voted early, of which 55% chose Mr. Obama, and 40% chose Republican candidate Mitt Romney. About 31% of American voters said they plan to vote before Election Day.

With the latest polls showing that the race for the White House is becoming very close between Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, encouraging voters to vote early is one of President Obama's strategies to concentrate votes and possibly make a difference in important election states.

Last week, the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, also voted by mail./.

According to (TTXVN)- DT