Barack Obama and John McCain in a file combination photo.[xinhua]

Raleigh in North Carolina has been voted the most political city in the United States -- ahead of Washington D.C. and New York City, according to a new ranking.

Montgomery, Alabama, came in at No. 2 in the 100 most political cities, followed by Little Rock, Cleveland and Kansas City.

Greensboro in North Carolina, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Portland and Pittsburgh, rounded the top 10 in the ranking by Men's Health magazine.

"Our hope is that by releasing these rankings now weeks before election day, the residents there will see this as a challenge and step up at the polls like never before," said Men's Health editor in chief David Zinczenko.

Washington D.C. took the 16th spot while New York placed 89th on the list.

Americans will head to the polls on November 4 to vote for Republican candidate John McCain or Democratic candidate Barack Obama for president.

Men's Health magazine used information for its ranking on the percentage of citizens registered to vote, percentage who participated, campaign spending in each city since 2006 and contributions by residents to the 2008 U.S. presidential race.

The bottom five cities included Yonkers in New York, Norfolk, Virginia, Modesto, California and three Texas cities -- Arlington, El Paso and Lubbock.

"What is striking is that six Texas cities are in the bottom ten, possibly because as a Republican stronghold there's this complacency that's taken hold over the past four years," Zinczenko said.

Men's Health gathered the information for its ranking from the US Election Assistance Commission, Federal Election Commission and the Huffington Post.