Just one more day before everyone can breathe a sigh of relief, or faint in shock and hide under the covers for three weeks. Either way, it's almost over, America. Election Day has finally arrived.

With 2012 one of the tightest presidential races in recent history, the presidency may once again be decided by who wins key swing states.

Swing state election results

The election departments for the twelve battleground states and their respective electoral votes are listed below. Track the election results live and online.

Ohio: (18)

Florida: (29)

Wisconsin: (10)

Colorado: (9)

Nevada: (6)

Virginia: (13)

New Hampshire: (4)

Iowa: (6)

North Carolina: (15)

Pennsylvania: (20)

Michigan: (16)

Minnesota: (10)

A total of 538 electoral votes are up for grabs. The number is based on the total voting membership of the U.S. Congress (435 Representatives and 100 Senators) and three electors from the District of Columbia. Candidates must receive 270 electoral votes to become President of the United States.

Critics of the Electoral College argue the system is inherently undemocratic and gives swing states disproportionate influence in electing the President and Vice President. Supporters claim that the Electoral College is an important, distinguishing feature of federalism in the United States, and that it protects the rights of smaller states.

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Ohio is once again a key battleground state in the 2012 election. Both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney made their final campaign stops in the state the evening of Nov. 5, giving speeches less than seven miles apart from one another.

Ohio was also the key to the 2004 election of President George W. Bush. Ohio has gained a reputation as a swing state since the 1980s, and last voted against the person declared president in the 1960 election.

Exit polls withheld by TV networks

The major TV news networks have agreed to withhold early exit poll data suggesting who is leading in a state until the state's polls close, according to a report from Reuters. Translation: TV networks will not be tweeting exit polls, posting on Facebook, or re-tweeting figures that others report.

"We will not either project or characterize a race until all the polls are scheduled to have closed in that state," said Sheldon Gawiser, director of elections for NBC News.

Election officials are taking precautions because they think leaks of early results could discourage people from voting if they assumer the race in their state has already been decided. In 1985, Congress extracted a promise from the major TV networks to refrain from using exit polls to project a winner in a particular state, or to characterize who is leading, while voting continues in that area.

If early voting results are leaked, "it can be a real problem," said Jeff Berkowitz, a Republican strategist who runs Berkowitz Public Affairs. "For somebody who's got seven things on their list to do that day, and if they're already being told the election is over, are they really going to prioritize voting over the other six?"

Exit poll data is collected by New Jersey-based Edison Media Research on behalf of the National Election Pool, a consortium of Walt Disney Co's ABC, News Corp's Fox, Time Warner Inc's CNN, Comcast Corp's NBC, CBS Corp's CBS and the Associated Press.

Smaller news outlets and Internet blogs are not bound by the commitment made by members of the National Election Pool, and can post exit polling to their heart's content.

There is no evidence that exit poll results influence voters, but t he rise of social media means any leaked data could spread like wildfire.

After exit polling leaks in earlier elections, the major TV networks have prepared to keep the results under wraps until the right moment. Some findings were previously available as early as 1 p.m. Eastern time, but for the 2012 race news staff are not to be given an initial look until 5 p.m.

To ensure there aren't any information leaks six analysts - one from each news organization in the National Election Pool  - will be locked in a "quarantine room" from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time Nov. 6 with no phone or e-mail access, Gawiser said. The analysts will conduct preliminary analysis of the data from the sealed room before it is released to staff at the news outlets.

"They cannot talk to us. We don't know anything about it. We can't see any of these data until five o'clock," Gawiser said.

This year, the tight race and prevalence of social media increases the risk that data will spread quickly if it leaks, said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

"If that were to happen today, with Internet penetration and the speed of social media, that (data) would be known pretty widely," he said.

The final CNN/ORC International survey has the presidential race tied, with 49 percent backing President Barack Obama and 49 percent supporting Republican Governor Mitt Romney.

A new Politico/George Washington University Battleground tracking poll also shows the contest deadlocked at 48 percent.

Two other surveys show Obama with a narrow 1-point lead. The final NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Obama leading Romney, 48-47 percent. The latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll has the president ahead, 49-48 percent.

A fifth poll, from the Pew Research Center, gives Obama a 3-point advantage, 50-47 percent.