. The poll of polls is an average of five surveys : CNN -LRB- September 5-7 -RRB- , ABC/Washington Post -LRB- September 5-7 -RRB- , CBS -LRB- September 5-7 -RRB- , Gallup -LRB- September 5-7 -RRB- and Diageo/Hotline -LRB- September 5-7 -RRB- . The poll of polls does not have a sampling error . The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Monday shows McCain and Obama tied at 48 percent . The poll , which was conducted Friday through Sunday , carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points . It was based on 1,022 telephone interviews . Republicans are hoping that if McCain can close the popular vote gap , he can also make gains in the electoral gap . The Electoral College will ultimately decide who takes over the White House . Watch what the different standings mean '' Although polls across the country are open on one day , the election is not a national poll but a series of 51 state-level elections that decide the members of the Electoral College . Technically , voters are n't choosing a candidate but a slate of electors who have pledged to vote for that candidate when
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sen. John McCain has inched ahead of Sen. Barack Obama in national polls , but the Democratic candidate holds a steady lead in the most recent Electoral College estimates . John McCain and Sarah Palin are campaigning hard in battleground states . In national surveys , McCain leads by 2 points , 47 percent to 45 percent , according to CNN 's poll of polls released Monday night . In the Electoral College standings , the most recent survey shows 243 electoral votes either safely in Obama 's column or leaning his way . At this point , McCain can claim only 189 . Many of the state polls used to determine the Electoral College standings , however , were conducted before the conventions . Monday marked the first time McCain passed Obama in CNN 's poll of polls . Watch how the race has tightened '' On Saturday , Obama was up by 3 in the poll of polls . That lead shrank to just 1 point Sunday before disappearing Monday . In the most recent survey , 8 percent of respondents said they were still unsure about who they were going to vote for