A Look at the Most Competitive States

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Byline: Associated Press

A look at the race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

The designations are based on an Associated Press analysis and are not intended to predict the outcome of Tuesday's election.

The analysis is based on public polls and internal campaign surveys as well as spending on television advertising, candidate visits, get-out-the-vote organizations and interviews with more than a dozen Republican and Democratic strategists in Washington, and in the most contested states.

A look at where the race stands state by state. The numbers in parenthesis reflect …