Two days before the U.S. midterm elections, a new poll released on Sunday found that the lead enjoyed by Democrats over Republicans narrowed to 47-43 percent among likely voters, down from 50-39 percent two weeks ago.

The lead was a bit larger among registered voters, 48-40 percent, according to the nationwide Pew Research Center survey.

The poll suggested that the judgment of undecided voters would be crucial to the outcome of many congressional races this year, with as many as 19 percent of voters saying that they now only leant to a candidate or were flatly undecided.

Democrats needed to add 15 seats in the 435-member House and six in the 100-member Senate to regain control of both chambers of Congress in the Nov. 7 elections.

Republicans had made major gains among independent voters, the poll suggested. As recently as mid-October, 47 percent of independent voters said they would vote for the Democratic candidate in their district, compared with 29 percent who favored the Republican. Currently, Democrats led by 44-33 percent among independent voters.

President George W. Bush's political standing had improved in the final week before the election, with his job approval rating among registered voters rising from 37 percent in early October to 41 percent. However, a majority of voters, 53 percent, still disapproved of the president job performance, according to the poll, which was conducted among 2,369 registered voters from Wednesday through Saturday.

Another poll, conducted by ABC News/Washington Post among 1,205 adults from Wednesday to Saturday, also showed a narrowed lead of Democrats over Republicans, 51-45 percent among likely voters.

Source: Xinhua