Americans vote in today's election

AMERICAN citizens residing in Brunei will be able to cast their votes via absentee voting procedures, US Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam William Todd said yesterday.

He said that American absentee votes will still be included as those that were going to be cast during America's election day today.

"The turnout for the voters, for both overseas and in the US is expected to be very high for the presidential election," he told The Brunei Times in an email interview.

He said that American residents in Brunei have already started casting their absentee votes and early reports indicate high levels of absentee voting, which is usually followed by high turnout on election day.

The ambassador added that no matter where Americans are in the world, they are still able to cast their votes and voice their opinions in the governing of their nation.

American citizens over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, but must first register to vote within the state that they are currently residing as there are different registration procedures for different states.

For instance, if you are a resident of a particular American state, you must vote absentee in within that state itself, he explained.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, 47, was slightly ahead of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, according to America's national polls.

The final weekend of the race for the White House was intense, with both contenders scrambling across several states in a final push to gain more votes in the swing states.

Illinois Senator Obama could make history as the first African-American president in America, while Arizona Senator McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, could be the oldest person elected to a first presidential term.

Americans will vote in what amounts to 51 separate elections in each state and the District of Columbia. Each state has a number of electoral votes based on the size of its representation in Congress. Whichever candidate gets 270 electoral votes wins the White House.

The final election results are expected to be available early Wednesday (Brunei time). (SHR1)