U.S. voters headed to the polls Tuesday morning to vote in perhaps the closest election in over a decade, as President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney compete to sit at the head of the world's largest economy.

Voters lined up at polling stations that dotted the national landscape to cast their votes for the country's next president amid a lackluster recovery from one of the nation's worst-ever recessions. Voter turnout was high, and some waited in long lines for two hours to cast their votes.

Above all else, voters cast their ballots for the next economist-in-chief, as jobs, the economy and the national debt overwhelmingly dominate the list of Americans' concerns. The jobless rate remains high after nearly four years of unemployment over the 8 percent mark, until September when it dropped to 7.8 percent but edged back up to 7.9 percent in October.

Obama has urged voters to stick with him, vowing to boost an economy that he said will slowly but surely rebound, and accused Romney of only looking out for the wealthiest Americans.

Rival Romney's message is that Obama has had ample time to improve the economy, and that the president's perceived economic missteps, over-regulation and health care reform are hurting small businesses and keeping average Americans out of work.

At a polling station in Northern Virginia, just outside the nation's capital, Josee Cox told Xinhua she was voting for Romney, adding that she believes Obama has done nothing to lower the jobless rate.

Cox, in her mid-50s, predicted a landslide victory for Romney, and said that polls are inaccurate, echoing claims that polls are weighted to reflect the 2008 electorate when droves of voters came out to back Obama. Many analysts say the president's support base has dwindled since 2008, although that remains to be seen.

Marina Deede, 22, told Xinhua she was voting for Obama because of a number of issues including women's rights and the president's healthcare overhaul. She also did not agree with what she called Romey's "trickle down" approach to the nation's economy, echoing critics who contend that Romney's policies will benefit only the wealthy.

Jeffery Bender, 66, told Xinhua he was voting for Obama because of a laundry list of issues from healthcare to U.S. relations with the Middle East, adding that the president ended the unpopular Iraq war.

Paige Deeley, 42, was voting for Romney. "I have small kids and I worry about their future," she told Xinhua. "I worry that they won't have the opportunities that I had when I was their age."

She does not want her children to be burdened with debt or be " killed with high taxes when they are working," she said, reflecting many voters' sentiment that Obama's big spending will have long-lasting negative consequences.

If Romney wins, it will be the fourth time a challenger has beat a sitting president, as Americans are historically reluctant to kick out their commander-in-chief.

Since the end of WWII, only Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980 and George H.W. Bush in 1992 were beat by challengers, but Obama is better liked than any of them, besides being a gifted orator.

Aside from that scenario, some experts point to the possibility of a split between the popular vote and the electoral vote. While Romney could win the popular vote, he could still lose the White House if he does not garner enough electoral votes.

The two candidates were deadlocked in nationwide polls Thursday, while Romney lagged behind 191 to 201 in electoral votes, according to Real Clear Politics.

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