Obama, Romney nearly tied in Electoral College

The race between President Obama and Mitt Romney is closer than ever, including the measure that will decide it: The Electoral College.

Obama leads in states with 201 electoral votes, according to state polling averages compiled by the RealClearPolitics website. Romney leads in states with 191 electoral votes.

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

Two-and-half weeks ago, RealClearPolitics gave Obama a lead of 265-191 in the Electoral College, in part because Ohio was considered a "likely Obama" state.

Now Ohio is again a tossup.

The reason: The debate.

Romney's strong performance in the Oct. 3 debate, and Obama's relatively poor one, enabled the Republican challenger to close margins in a variety of national and state polls.

In terms of popular vote, Romney is ahead of Obama, according to the RealClearPolitics average of national polls; Romney averages 47.3%, while Obama is at 45.9%.

But the election will be decided by the Electoral College, specifically the 11 states (and 146 electoral votes) listed as tossups:

Colorado (9 electoral votes)

Florida (29)

Iowa (6)

Michigan (16)

Nevada (6)

New Hampshire (4)

North Carolina (15)

Ohio (18)

Pennsylvania (20)

Virginia (13)

Wisconsin (10)