With news organizations such as CNN and the New York Times predicting a victory for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Brandeis students from all over the country will help determine the outcome of today's election as polls in many swing states remain tight. A campaign that saw great mobilization of Brandeis Democrats but some organizational challenges for Brandeis Republicans will likely draw to an end tonight.The news organizations predict that Massachusetts will adhere to its almost 50-year tradition of voting for the Democratic presidential candidate. In a poll by RealClearPolitics.com, a political Web site that combines the averages of multiple polls, Obama has led McCain by double digits in the state since June.

In Waltham, the Banks Elementary School will open its doors today as the official polling place for Brandeis students, who can take vans from the University to the polling site between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

With Massachusetts reasonably decided, politically active Democratic and Republican Brandeis students have focused on a swing state in Massachusetts' backyard.

New Hampshire, which has four electoral votes in the electoral college, elected President George W. Bush in the 2000 election but supported Democratic Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in 2004. As of Monday evening, Obama was ahead of McCain by 10.6 percentage points after the two candidates were tied at 44 percent in early September.

Since the end of September, around 60 students supporting Obama have traveled on the weekends to Raymond, N.H., which went to Bush in the 2004 election. Justin Backal-Balik '10, campaign director for the Brandeis Democrats, said, "There are lots of scenarios where losing New Hampshire would either bring [Obama] up short or [winning would] push him over the top."

Last weekend, Backal-Balik said, 35 Brandeis students "knocked on about 1,000 doors combined with Tufts and identified more than 200 new Obama supporters."

He said the Democrats also did some phone banking and dorm storming this semester to encourage students to register or vote absentee.

Last Wednesday, while some Democrats watched Obama's special half-hour advertisement on television, seven students participated in the Brandeis Republicans' phone banking effort for John McCain.

President of the Brandeis Republicans Naomi Cohn '11 said that Wednesday's event, during which students called 120 individuals, was the only event the group planned before Election Day. Arthur Serer '11, executive adviser of the club, said the McCain campaign representative was "a little unorganized" and unavailable other days the group planned to phone-bank.

Serer asserted that the McCain phone bank's turnout was "on the better side" considering the club's size. There are 137 students on the Republicans' listserv and 513 on the Democrats' listserv.

Compared to the Democrats, Cohn said, "we don't have as big a following on campus, and without the manpower, it's difficult to do everything that the Democrats are doing."

Serer said McCain faced a huge challenge gathering support among students, and he feels that McCain made the wrong choice picking Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

"I think Obama has had it in the bag for two or three weeks now," he said.

Brandeis students met mixed reactions during their campaign activities.

"We've had a fair amount of people in support of John McCain, a fair amount of hang-ups [and] a fair amount of 'don't bother me's,'" Cohn said.

Executive Director of the Brandeis Republicans Jordan Rothman '09 said, "I was only able to reach about six people, but all six of the people I reached said they were voting for [McCain]. ... It was something they were extremely proud about."

In Raymond, some students said they found voters very conservative compared to Brandeis students, while others said they found that those who had already decided on their candidate were leaning toward Obama.

Leila Einhorn '12 said, "I actually for the first time since I've been involved in the election met people who honestly did not want to elect a black president or felt that Obama was legitimately Muslim. . Getting outside of the bubble here, [that's] a reality for a lot of people."

Mark Kagan '09 participated in last weekend's canvassing even though he is not a U.S. citizen, but is originally from Russia. "In a lot of countries, activists of certain parties get attacked by the government. When I can just openly go and try to talk to people and hand out literature of the candidates, that's the least I can do."

Backal-Balik said the Brandeis Democrats are sending a bus to New Hampshire today from 7:30 a.m. until polls close at 8 p.m. for last-minute get-out-the-vote efforts.

"It's one day, and then if he wins, you get four years of a good president; I think it's worth it," Backal-Balik said. "I think it's too important to be sitting in class on Election Day.