By By SPIROS GALLOS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The presidential race is coming down to the wire.
Although projections by major news network MSNBC have awarded Ohio to President George W. Bush, giving Bush 269 of the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency, others, like CNN, have deemed the state too close to call at press time.
With Bush being awarded Ohio, Senator John Kerry trails the president with 238 electoral college votes.
If Bush is awarded Ohio, Kerry campaign officials have already announced they will challenge the decision and the Senator from Massachusetts has not conceded defeat to Bush at press time.
If Kerry were to take the remaining states deemed too close to call, he would tie President Bush, forcing a tie-breaking vote in the Republican-controlled United States House of Representatives.
Kerry won the state of Michigan, earning approximately 51 percent of the state's votes.
Kerry took 2,420 votes in the city of Niles, while President Bush earned 2,144 votes.
In contrast to the city, Bush earned just over 500 more votes than Kerry, taking 3,206 votes to Kerry's 2,703.
Howard Township voters showed their support for Bush, lending the incumbent President 1,599 votes. Kerry was not far behind with 1,327 votes.
President Bush earned the popular vote in Berrien County, taking 41, 384 votes to Kerry's 32,312 votes.
Voters in Niles city and township and Howard Township also voted on two proposals which would amend the Michigan State Constitution.
Proposal 1 would amend the State Constitution to require voter approval of any form of gambling authorized by law and certain state lottery games.
The proposal passed in the city of Niles with 2,849 yes votes against 1,255 no votes.
Niles Township voters passed the proposal with 3,794 votes in favor of the proposal and 1,561 votes against it.
The proposal passed overwhelmingly in Howard township, with 1,907 votes supporting the proposal and 820 votes opposing it.
Voters in Berrien County passed the proposal with 45,854 yes votes against 21,086 no votes.
The second ballot proposal was one which raised a lot of moral concerns and arguments among supporters and opposers of the proposal.
The proposal amends the State Constitution to specify what can be recognized as a "marriage or similar union" for any purpose.
Niles City voters passed the proposal with 2,558 votes in favor of the proposal and 1,602 votes against.
Like the city, Niles Township passed the proposal with 3,658 yes votes and 1,768 no votes. The pattern continued in Howard Township as voters there passed the proposal with 1,881 in favor of the proposal and 872 votes opposing it. Berrien County voters overwhelmingly passed the second proposal, casting 44,151 votes in favor of the proposal against 21,447 votes opposing the proposal. The eyes of the nation now focus on the undecided states which are deemed too close to call by political analysts.