President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney were virtually tied in a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released today, with the Democrat leading by a single percentage point eight days before the Nov. 6 U.S. presidential election.

Obama leads Romney 48 percent to 47 percent, a one percentage point drop for Obama and a percentage point rise for Romney from Sunday's tracking poll - still within the daily online survey's 3.9 percentage point credibility interval for likely voters.

"This is all movement around the middle," said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark. "It basically underlines the closeness of the race. I don't think it's going to be too different until the election."

The poll showed that 22 percent of registered voters said they had taken part in early or absentee voting. Among that group, 58 percent said they voted for Obama and 39 percent said they voted for Romney.

The precision of Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. Among the 806 likely voters surveyed, the credibility interval is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

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