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Record turnout expected in historic US poll

Residents of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, wait for the stroke of midnight to be the first voters in Tuesday’s election. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama defeated McCain by a 15-6 vote in Dixville Notch, where a tradition of having the first Election Day votes counted lives on. PHOTO: AP

A confident Democratic Senator Barack Obama stood ready to make history by being elected the US’ first black president after wrapping up a marathon two-year campaign, but Republican presidential candidate John McCain stubbornly promised an underdog upset.

Meanwhile, a state personnel board concluded in a report released on the eve of the election that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin did not violate ethics laws as Alaska’s governor when she fired the state’s public safety commissioner.

Record numbers of Americans were expected yesterday at polling stations across the US, adding their ballots to 29 million citizens who had already voted in 30 states. The early vote tally suggested an advantage for Obama.

Democrats also anticipated strengthening their majority in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, although Republicans battled to hold their losses to a minimum and a significant number of races were rated as toss-ups in the campaign’s final hours.

“I’m feeling kind of fired up. I’m feeling like I’m ready to go,” Obama told nearly 100,000 people gathered for his last rally on Monday night in Manassas, Virginia.

“At this defining moment in history, Virginia, you can give this country the change it needs,” Obama said to voters in a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 44 years.

He later flew home to Chicago.

Obama came up a winner in two small New Hampshire towns, where a tradition of having the first Election Day votes tallied lives on.

Obama defeated McCain by a 15-6 vote in Dixville Notch, while Hart’s Location reported 17 votes for Obama, 10 for McCain and two for write-in Ron Paul.

McCain, a 72-year-old four-term Arizona senator, ended the contest on Monday with a frantic and grueling dash through several traditionally Republican states still not securely in his camp.

McCain stopped in Florida, Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada.

Palin raced through five states: Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.

Palin was cleared of wrongdoing as governor in a second probe. An earlier, separate investigation by Alaska’s legislature found that she had abused her office.

The personnel board’s report said it found no “probable cause to believe that the governor, or any other state official, violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with these matters.”

“Governor Palin is pleased that the independent investigator for the Personnel Board has concluded that she acted properly,” her attorney Thomas Van Flein said.

Also See: US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: One-third of US voters vote early
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