WASHINGTON, Oct. 31: With only one day to go, the US presidential race is still so close that both President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger John F. Kerry have decided to stay on the campaign trail till the proverbial last minute.

They are spending most of their time in the 15 states that are likely to decide the outcome of the race for the White House.

On Sunday, Mr Bush campaigned in Florida and Ohio. On Monday, he travels to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Mexico before returning to his Texas ranch on Monday evening.

Senator Kerry campaigned in Florida, New Hampshire and Ohio. On Monday, he will visit Michigan and Wisconsin.

Vice-President Dick Cheney was spending the Sunday night in Hawaii, where Republicans think they have a surprising shot at winning the usuallyDemocratic state.

Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards spent his Sunday campaigning in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Iowa.

Polls released on Sunday showed that Florida, New Hampshire and six battleground states in the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes regions were up for grabs. A series of state polls for Knight Ridder and MSNBC showed that Mr Bush was holding strong leads in three of the 15 battleground states surveyed - Arkansas, Colorado, and West Virginia - all states he carried in 2000. He held a six-point lead in Nevada and narrower leads in six others.

Sen Kerry held a six-point lead in Oregon and narrower leads in four other battleground states.

The winning candidate must seize a majority of the battleground states to have enough electoral votes to enter the White House. In the American system it is not enough to win the popular votes. A candidate must also get 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win.

The Washington Post predicted that Mr Bush already has 197 solid electoral votes and 30 lean votes.