Voters in Texas on Tuesday headed to thousands of polling stations across the state to cast ballots on the future direction of the country and the values they think are important to them as well as to the country.

At a polling station in the Texas city of Sugar Land, voters were almost evenly divided on who will be a better choice for the country's future direction and who better represents the country's values.

"This is the most important election in my life. I think it's now and ever," Travis Vick, a 61-year-old retired financer, said after casting a ballot. "I think it's a fundamental decision on which way the country is going to go," he said.

Vick, who voted for Republican candidate Mitt Romney, described Obama as a "dishonest" person who did not keep his promises. He said he believed that Romney, who he said "has a much stronger character and background of business," will "put the country back to work."

Vick also hoped the next U.S. president will do well with the U. S.-Chinese relations, and that the two countries will continue to be 'big partners." "China is a very strong and emerging economy," Vick said, adding that good U.S.-Chinese relations benefit both sides.

"I think U.S.-China relationship is very important, because it is an international economy now and we cannot deny anybody's input, and we just get to work together, that's very important," he said.

Tiffany Garbanzos, an 18-year-old college student who voted for the first time, also said she supported Romney. "I really do think he will make a change for the country. He will bring back the conservative views. I wanted a limited government and Romney will bring back a limited government and traditionalism," said Tiffany, a Republican.

Garbanzos's friend Christina Morin, also a college student and a Republican, echoed Garbanzos, adding that she is "not satisfied with the current government, because he (Obama) made a lot of promises and did not realize them." "I prefer limited government and conservative views. I am a Republican and very conservative," she said.

However, Steven Song, a Chinese-American resident in Sugar Land, said he believed Obama has done a fairly good job in terms of the economy, diplomacy and the medicare reform.

"Obama inherited a bad economy from the Bush administration," said Song. "I think the U.S. economy is faring quite well under the Obama administration, considering that the global economy is still weak."

Song also said that Obama has done a not bad job in terms of the country's military withdrawal from Iraq and the removal of Bin Laden, among others.

On the controversial medicare reform by Obama, Song said Obama is courageous to carry out the reform. "The U.S. is a world power, but there is such a large portion of people without medical insurance in the country."

"Many of Obama's predecessors saw the problem but did not take the risk to solve it. Obama has the courage to carry out the reform, not for himself, but for the interests of the whole country," Song said.

CY Fyer, a black music producer, agreed with Song, saying that he believed "Obama is the right man for the job." "I voted for Obama. I like a lot of things he stands for," he said.

Fyer said he voted for Obama four years ago because he is the first minority president in U.S. history, and four years later, he voted for Obama because he wanted to give him "another chance."

Jesse Sun, another voter, said that though like most Americans, she cares about the economic situation of the country, she cares more about the values and what the future holds for the country's younger generations.

"I voted for values. That's why I choose Mitt Romney, because at least he has more better values than the other one," said Sun.

Sun, a firm supporter of family values, said the Democrats " have been supporting things like homosexual activity, and actually they are depressing the conservative values."

"I am worried about our future. Because of the values the current party has been encouraging, our kids and grand-kids will be in kind of very hazardous environment, so I am trying to do my best to protect our kids and grand-kids," she said.

For the economy, Sun said, "it takes a long time trying to make it right, so it is still hard to determine who is doing better." But she said the Obama administration seems to have not made much progress with the economy.

"We hope the economy will get better. But it takes time, because economy is not something you can change overnight." "A lot of people are hoping that Mitt Romney can do better than the current president, and I hope so," she said.

In addition to presidential elections, voters in the U.S. are also voting Tuesday for 33 Senate seats, all 435 House of Representative seats, 11 state governors and numerous local offices.

Obama advocates more economic fairness, investment in education and infrastructure, protecting welfare for the poor, elderly and disabled and taxing the rich to pay down the deficit, while Romney advocates limited government to battle the federal deficit and public debt, and deregulation and tax cuts to spur the economy.

The race also pits the two candidates on issues of healthcare, national security and immigration, but they were overshadowed by the all-important economic concerns. 

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