Two recent polls suggest that North Dakota is a state in a dead heat in the presidential race. A poll by Research 2000, released from the dailykos.com, shows that John McCain and Barack Obama have equal support in the state.
 
Another poll, from the Public Affairs Institute in Moorhead, Minnesota, shows Obama with a slight lead.
 
The survey states that Obama has a 2-point lead, with 45-percent of the participants pledging their vote to him, and 43-percent to McCain. But because the lead falls within the poll's margin of error, the actual result is a tie.
 
Although Obama pulled his campaign offices and staffers out of North Dakota in September, support for him in the state has remained strong. North Dakota Grassroots for Obama, an organization formed after the campaign staffers left the state, has continued to campaign throughout the state.
 
The group has stayed in the Obama headquarter office, making phone calls and passing out literature, like they did this weekend in the state's four biggest cities. Geoff Greenwood, of the state Democratic party, said that about 30 volunteers in Bismarck spent their weekend knocking on doors, campaigning for Obama.
 
That kind of effort is one way that volunteers are hoping to make a difference in the state.
 
"We're cautiously optimistic," says Chad Notland, a volunteer with ND Grassroots for Obama. "But it might surprise a lot of people if Obama won North Dakota, because of the long history of Republican support."
 
Comparing the amount of Democratic activity in the state to the presidential elections in 2004 and 2000, Notland said the support he's seen in North Dakota has been a lot more than he's expected.
 
"I don't think they looked at John Kerry this way, or at Al Gore eight years ago like this," he said.
 
If Obama does win North Dakota, and the state's three electoral votes, it will be the first time a Democratic candidate has won in the state since 1964.
 
But while there's a lot of vocal support for the Democrats, not everyone believes that the state will swing to the left.
 
Brendan Murphy, 21, a sophomore at the University of Mary, is the president of the College Republicans for the campus. He said he and his fellow CR members have seen an increase in political activity on campus  from both parties this year, though he acknowledges that it's most likely because it's an election year.
 
Murphy is hopeful that McCain will win the state, and said that even though the Democratic effort has been "incredible" in the state, he doesn't think that North Dakota, a Republican stronghold, will turn blue.
 
And he said that even though the McCain campaign hasn't made a stop in the state, or opened any field offices, their presence has been felt, too.
 
"The Republican efforts in the state have been fairly adequate," he said, noting that the College Republicans are making phone calls and mail drops. The state Republican party has also been working to get more new voters out to the polls this year.
 
Murphy said that's the ultimate goal of his organization. The College Republicans and the College Democrats on the University of Mary campus have joined forces to get people out to vote on Election Day.
 
"We decided that it doesn't matter who you vote for, or what your party is, as long as you get out and do it on Election Day," said Murphy.
 
The university offers a polling place on campus. Students are eligible to vote in North Dakota if they've lived in the state for 30 days – no registration required.
 
"We just want students to know that it's your constitutional right to vote, and they really should do it," Murphy said.
 
That's the message that the state election office is sending out as well. North Dakota is one of 34 states that are offering early voting, in an effort to cut back on long lines and wait time on Election Day.
 
Early voting is available in six counties in the state, and the Secretary of State's office said the latest numbers show that more than 15,000 people have participated in early voting. North Dakota also offers its residents something called "no-reason absentee voting," which means voters can get their ballot sent to them, and vote anytime before the election. So far, more than 48,700 North Dakota voters have participated that way.
 
"There's been a huge effort to get out and vote," Murphy said. "Be it early voting, or on campus, or absentee, the most important thing is that you vote. Just vote."