UPI Poll: Dems, GOP nearly equal to task

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. voters are nearly evenly split on whether the Democrats or Republicans can better handle the nation's ills, a United Press International poll indicated.

Thirty-five percent of registered voters said they thought Democrats would be better than republicans in resolving the nation's problems, ranging from the economic crisis and unemployment to immigration and the war on terror, results of the UPI-CVoter poll released Tuesday indicated.

Thirty-six percent said they thought Republicans would do a better job.

A week ago, survey participants indicated they preferred the Republicans over the Democrats, 38 percent to 30 percent.

The race between President Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney remained too close to call a week ahead of the election, results indicated. Among likely voters, Obama was favored 48 percent to 47 percent, well within the margin of error.

Obama had a 51 percent approval rating and a 44 percent disapproval rating.

Results are based on nationwide interviews conducted Oct. 22 through Monday with 1,556 registered voters, of which 1,196 said they were likely to vote on Election Day. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points for the overall sample and 4.5 percentage points for likely voters.