初步选后民调：选民最关心经济

Early results from Florida showed a tight race between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney among an electorate worried about the economy and the direction the country is headed.

佛罗里达州的初步计票结果显示，现任总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)与共和党总统候选人罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)获得的选民支持不相上下。选民们对经济形势及美国的未来方向感到担忧。

Returns from some strongly Republican or Democratic states came in as expected. Mr. Romney won Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Georgia while Mr. Obama won Vermont, Illinois, Connecticut, Maine, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maryland and Massachusetts.

在几个强烈倾向于共和党或民主党的州，投票结果一如所料。罗姆尼赢得肯塔基、西弗吉尼亚、印第安纳、南卡罗来纳、俄克拉荷马、田纳西、佐治亚，奥巴马赢得佛蒙特、伊利诺依、康涅狄格、缅因、哥伦比亚特区、特拉华、罗得岛、马里兰、马萨诸塞。

In Florida, one of the most contested states, the president was running barely ahead of Mr. Romney with nearly four million votes counted. Mr. Romney was leading strongly in Virginia, another hard-fought state, with several hundred thousand votes counted.

角逐激烈的佛罗里达计票近400万张时，奥巴马以微弱优势领先罗姆尼；同样竞争激烈的弗吉尼亚州已计票数十万张，罗姆尼大幅领先。

Polls were closed in many Eastern and Midwestern states as of 8 p.m. Eastern time, after a day that saw long lines at many polling places around the country. Waits in some places were reported at two hours or more.

截至美国东部时间晚上8点，东部和中西部很多州的投票站已经关闭。白天全国很多投票站都排起了长龙。据报道，在某些投票站人们需排队两小时甚至更久才能投上票。

Most voters rated the condition of the nation's economy as 'not so good' or 'poor,' and a slight majority said the country is 'seriously off on the wrong track,' according to an early wave of exit polls released Tuesday.

从周二发布的多项初步选后民调来看，多数选民都认为目前美国经济形势“不是很好或“很差，占微弱多数的选民表示美国严重偏离正轨。

But the first glimpse of the 2012 electorate yielded conflicting messages, as many previous polls had, with a small majority saying that they have a favorable opinion of Mr. Obama. Fewer voters held favorable opinions of Mr. Romney, the exit polls found, and just more than half said the Republican's policies favored the rich.

但这些选后民调跟之前的民调结果一样，也传递出相互矛盾的信息。选后民调显示，对奥巴马有好感的选民占微弱多数，对罗姆尼有好感的选民较少，略超半数的选民表示共和党的政策偏袒富人。

Early exit surveys also revealed a divided electorate in the states that will decide the winner of this election. In Ohio, perhaps the biggest prize among the swing states, voters were nearly evenly split on the question of who would better handle the economy, and a majority said former president George W. Bush was more to blame than Mr. Obama for current economic problems.

初步选后民调还显示，在即将决定这次选举胜负的几个州，选民也是各有各的投票意向。俄亥俄州恐怕是摇摆州当中最值得争夺的一个，而在谁会更好地管理经济这个问题上，当地选民差不多是一半对一半。同时多数选民说，当前的经济问题应更多归咎于前总统布什(George W. Bush)，而不是奥巴马。

In Florida, the two candidates had similar favorability ratings, but more voters said Mr. Romney was the better choice for handling the economy. In Virginia, just more than half of voters had positive feelings about the Obama administration, but Mr. Romney still had the edge on the question of handling the economy.

在佛罗里达，两位候选人的支持率相当，但更多选民表示罗姆尼是管理经济的最佳人眩在弗吉尼亚，略超半数的选民对奥巴马政府有好感，但在管理经济的问题上，罗姆尼仍旧享有优势。

Messrs. Romney and Obama entered Election Day locked in a near-dead heat, with both candidates expressing confidence that their supporters would deliver a win. Ultimately, voters in a handful of battleground states will have the final say in what has been the most expensive presidential contest in history. Polls suggest that decision day could stretch into a long night.

进入选举日之时，罗姆尼和奥巴马的选情几乎不相上下，两位候选人都表示信相他们的支持者会让自己获胜。归根结底，这次史上最昂贵总统竞选的最后决定权还是掌握在几个摇摆州的选民手里。从民调结果来看，最终结果可能要到深夜才能见分晓。