Obama returns to Reddit to drum up last-minute votes

With mere hours left before the polls close, President Obama turned to Reddit for a last-minute push to round up support for his re-election bid.

After making headlines in August when his question-and-answer session overwhelmed servers running the popular link-sharing site, the president returned to Reddit this afternoon to remind voters to vote.

"I'm checking in because polls will start closing in this election in just a few hours, and I need you to vote," Obama said in his post. "Millions of Americans have stepped up in support of this campaign over the last 19 months, and today we decide what the next four years look like -- but only if we show up."

"If you've voted already, don't stop there -- spread the word to your friends, roommates, and neighbors. Think of it as upvoting," the president wrote, referencing a popular feature on the site that allows users to indicate which posts they believe should get the most attention.

In August, the president's brief presence on the site to answer questions was enough to quickly bring the site to its knees. Any registered Reddit user was allowed to ask Obama whatever question they wanted in a threaded stream of comments. All told, Obama answered nine questions, and users left more than 13,600 comments.

In a little more than an hour today, Obama's voter comment has received nearly 2,000 replies, which appeared fairly evenly split voicing support for the president and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Meanwhile, Romney also turned to social networking to drum up last-minute support.

"With your help, we will turn our country around and get America back on the path to prosperity," Romney tweeted this afternoon. "Please vote today."