After a grinding presidential campaign President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, yielded center stage to American voters Tuesday for an Election Day choice that will frame the contours of government and the nation for years to come.
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2-year-old Liana Brinkerhoff, top left, looks on while sitting on the shoulder of her farther at a polling place in Billings, Mont., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Jae C. Hong
Voters check in before casting their ballots under a tent at a consolidated polling station for residents of the Rockaways on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in the Queens borough of New York. Election Day turnout was heavy in several storm-ravaged areas in New York and New Jersey, with many voters expressing relief and even elation at being able to vote at all, considering the devastation. AP / Jason DeCrow
Election workers help a voter, right, finalize his affidavit ballot at a consolidated polling station for residents of the Rockaways on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in the Queens borough of New York. AP / Jason DeCrow
James Ventresca, left, and Claudia Welch fill out their ballots at Town Hall on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 in Calais, Vt. AP / Toby Talbot
A stuffed loon overlooks voters in the Old Town Hall, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, on Westport Island, Maine. AP / Robert F. Bukaty
People cast their votes Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, at polling location inside the Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Northeast Philadelphia, where a mural of President Barack Obama painted on a wall behind two voting booths was ordered covered up by a Philadelphia court. The mural had been left uncovered when the polling location opened, but was ordered covered after Republicans filed a complaint. AP / Joseph Kaczmarek
Snow surrounds the polling precinct in Terra Alta, W.Va., as Peter Hough heads to work after casting his ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Dave Martin
Voters wait in line at the Magnolia Gardens precinct at Veterans Park Elementary in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Polls opened at 6 a.m. Magnolia Gardens, Charwood and Laurel Wood precincts all vote at the school. Lexington Herald-Leader / Charles Bertram
James Seiler gets the assistance of poll workers Sue Platt, left, and Martha Myers, right, as he voted in the Greentown Fire Department Tuesday, November 6, 2012 in Greentown, OH. Voting rules call for Democrat and a Republican to be present if a voter needs assistance. Myers is a Republican and Platt is a Democrat. The Repository / Scott Heckel
Clark County elections official Rae Hellbusch checks ballot precinct numbers at the Clark County Elections office Tuesday Nov. 6, 2012 in Vancouver, Wash. The Columbian / Troy Wayrynen
Voters cast their ballots at a polling place inside St. Leo's Catholic Church in Baltimore on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Patrick Semansky
Voters line up to cast ballots in the general election at Barrow County's Precinct 16 at Bethlehem Christian Academy, Tuesday morning, Nov. 6, 2012, in Bethlehem, Ga. AP / David Tulis
Poll Manager, Melvin Davis Jr. unlocks the voting machines at Grady High School, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 in Atlanta. Atlanta Journal Constitution / John Spink
Volunteer Clare Frew puts away a life-size cut out of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney as she prepares to close the Chatham County Republican Campaign office, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Savannah, Ga. AP / Stephen Morton
Mervel Parker fills out his ballot to vote in the election at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. The Montgomery Advertiser / Julie Bennett
Voters wait in line at the Bobby Miller Activity Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Voters in record numbers flocked to the poles Tuesday to cast their votes. Tuscaloosa News / Dusty Compton
Northport resident Ronald Hampel, center, casts his ballot at the Northport City Hall voting location in Northport, Ala. Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Tuscaloosa News / Dusty Compton
Shankeshia Miller smiles as she walks out the voting booth after casting her vote at Youree Middle School Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The Shreveport Times / Henrietta Wildsmith/The Times
Voters line up at the Engine 26 Ladder 9 firehouse to vote on Election Day in New Orleans, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Gerald Herbert
Voters line up inside the Engine 26 Ladder 9 firehouse to cast their vote in New Orleans, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Gerald Herbert
A voter walks to an empty electronic voting booth at a Madison, Miss., precinct, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Local officials expressed their pleasure with the large early turnout of voters. AP / Rogelio V. Solis
Joseph Nader, far right, casts his ballot as his daughter Lydia Nader, 4, watches at Sherrod Elementary School in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. The Dallas Morning News / David Woo
Voters mark their paper ballots at voting precinct 2033 in the Tarrant County Sub-Courthouse in Mansfield, Texas. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram / Rodger Mallison
A man walks into his polling place, Star Bridge Christian Center, before sunrise to cast his ballot in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Wildwood, Mo. AP / Jeff Roberson
Alvina DeVault takes a moment to contemplate her choices while voting at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds, in Lafayette, Ind., on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. The 91-year-old DeVault hasn't missed casting her ballot in an election since Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. Journal & Courier / Brent Drinkut/Journal & Courier
Chyniah Woods, 8, watches her mother Kesia Woods vote for the very first time at the Concord 15th precinct at Rosedale Highrise in Elkhart, Ind. Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. The Elkhart Truth / JENNIFER SHEPHARD
Peoria, Ill., high school students Shameika Lutz, left, Colby Duckworth, center left in yellow, and Brenda Sophanavong, center right, all seniors in Shawna Beam's American Government class, hit the street along N. North Street on election day Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 in Peoria, Ill. Journal Star / Fred Zwicky
Leslie Fabian concentrates as she votes electronically inside at the 24-hour Su Nueva Laundromat in Chicago's 13th Ward Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Chicago. AP / Charles Rex Arbogast
Voters wait in line prior to casting their ballots on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, at the Mona Shores Middle School gym in Norton Shores, Mich. Some waited at least one hour to vote. The Muskegon Chronicle / Ken Stevens
Donald Clark votes on a chair on the gym floor of the third ward precinct at Marcy School, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Minneapolis. The Star Tribune / Elizabeth Flores
Voters wait for the polling station to open to cast their ballots on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, outside the May Town Hall in May Township, Minn. The Star Tribune / Jim Gehrz
Dan Bohlin casts his vote on Election Day, Tuesday Nov. 6, 2012 at the Liberty Town Hall, in Stitzer, Wis. The Telegraph Herald / Dave Kettering
Lewiston Idaho voters lined up from the front doors of the Nez Perce County Fairgrounds pavilion well into the parking lot Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2102, and the stream of voters was steadier through the day than most years. Lewiston Tribune / Barry Kough
Voting booths are illuminated by sunlight as voters cast their ballots at a polling place in Billings, Mont., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Jae C. Hong
Amy Deming, left, casts her ballot as her son Max, 4, plays with his V-Reader and Wendy Watt, right, votes at Pony Express Elementary School in Eagle Mountain, Utah, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. The Salt Lake Tribune / Rick Egan
"I Voted" stickers are displayed atop a ballot box, ready to give to each voter at a polling station used by many college students on the campus of the University of Colorado, in Boulder, Colo., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Brennan Linsley
College student Cortney Ratashak, 18, of Littleton, Colo., talks over paperwork with an electoral official before voting in the general election, at a polling station serving the local student population on the campus of the University of Colorado, in Boulder, Colo., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Brennan Linsley
Dave Reyes II waits to be the first voter in his precinct outside of the polling station set up in the garage of the Gallegos residence in Stockton, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Marcio Jose Sanchez
After voting, Mike Weigart, 30, carries his ballot and his surfboard to the ballot box at the polling place at the Venice Beach lifeguard headquarters in Los Angeles Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Weigart said "It's awesome the polling place is where I surf." AP / Reed Saxon
President Barack Obama, left, casts his vote during early voting in the 2012 election Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, in Chicago, at the Martin Luther King Community Center. AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and wife Ann Romney vote in Belmont, Mass., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. AP / Charles Dharapak
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