WASHINGTON – Voter turnout is likely to be higher than in recent presidential elections – especially among young voters – in a very close race, weekend polls suggest. Those polls suggest the race is very close nationally, with some polls showing President Bush and Democratic Senator Kerry even and another showing Mr. Bush slightly ahead.

Mr. Bush has a slight edge at 48% and Mr. Kerry at 45% in a Pew Research Center poll, while several national polls released this weekend showed the race even.

New polls show Messrs. Bush and Kerry knotted in key states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New Hampshire.

More than eight in 10 registered voters in the Pew poll, 84%, describe this election as especially important, compared with 67% in 2000 and 61% in 1996.

Pew pollster Andrew Kohut said the poll suggests turnout could be as high or slightly higher than in 1992, when it was more than 55% of those eligible to vote – based on his analysis of voter enthusiasm.

Mr. Bush had more intense support from his backers than Mr. Kerry, though both get the backing of about nine in 10 in their own parties.

The poll suggested the two candidates are running about even among early voters.

The Pew poll of 2,408 registered voters and 1,925 likely voters was taken October 27 to October 30 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.