Final push for key US poll states

President Bush greets voters on Sunday in Miami

The two main contenders in Tuesday's US presidential election have spent the penultimate day of the campaign in key battleground states.

John Kerry and George W Bush focused their fire on jobs and the economy, and pressed home to supporters the importance of getting the vote out.

Opinion polls remain extremely close, and correspondents say neither candidate can be confident of victory.

For both men, Sunday began with church services and ended in noisy rallies.

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says Monday will see the candidates again criss-crossing the key marginal states, trying to look like winners geeing up their teams.

Under US electoral law, they are allowed to campaign until midnight local time.

Frenzied

The campaigns have now spent more than $1bn between them, but no-one enjoys a clear advantage and campaign correspondents describe a frenzied atmosphere.

We are going to get this done, let's make it happen, let's walk in the footsteps of the Lord John Kerry

Campaigning in Ohio, New Hampshire and Florida, Mr Kerry returned to domestic issues - including jobs, health insurance, and stem cell research - after a weekend charged with fears about national security.

Mr Kerry told the predominantly black congregation Shiloh Baptist church in Dayton, Ohio, that the president's policies were not in keeping with Mr Bush's Christianity.

"There is a standard by which we have to live. Coming to church on Sundays and talking about faith and professing faith isn't the whole deal," he said.

Later, he told supporters in Tampa, Florida: "We need a president who is a champion of the middle class."

Kerry confident

And again Mr Kerry stressed that it was vital to vote: "This is the moment to hold George Bush accountable... the outcome of this election is in your hands," he said.

Mr Kerry looks exhausted but nevertheless has worked on his image problem and looks more at ease and confident, says the BBC's Jill McGivering, who is among the reporters travelling with him.

KEY SWING STATES 1. Florida - 27 electoral votes 2. Pennsylvania - 21 3. Ohio - 20 4. Minnesota - 10 5. Wisconsin - 10 6. Iowa - 7 7. Nevada - 5 8. New Mexico - 5 9. New Hampshire - 4 US elections map

His campaign strategists admit the race is on a knife-edge, but say they believe Mr Kerry has acquired a last-minute momentum that will see him victorious.

Mr Bush was also in Florida and Ohio.

He cheered supporters in Miami with an attack on Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

"I strongly believe the people of Cuba should be free from the tyrant," the president said.

Mr Bush also told the crowd: "If you are a Democrat who believes your great party has turned too far left in this year, I ask you, come stand with me."

Crucial Ohio

In Ohio - where hundreds of thousands of people have lost jobs since the last election - he defended his record and said unemployment was on the way down.

"This economy is strong and it is getting stronger," he said to applause.

Analysts believe the tight race in Ohio - which has 20 electoral college votes up for grabs - may prove the decider.

Both candidates are heavily courting the Hispanic vote

The victor there has won the White House in every vote since 1964 - and no Republican has ever won without it.

Mr Bush has been to Florida 15 times this year, and Ohio 17 times.

The BBC's correspondent with the Bush campaign, Stephen Evans, says Mr Bush is not a great speaker in the grand Churchillian mode.

But he is a very effective speaker, using plain language which resonates.

The big question, says our correspondent, is will it resonate far away, particularly in the poorer Democratic areas, where there has been a rush to register to vote?

On Monday, Mr Kerry will end his campaigning in Michigan, Wisconsin and back in Ohio.

Mr Bush's final day of the campaign will be spent on a six-state blitz, before he returns to his Texas ranch.