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Twitter to help decide Final Vote on final day

Hashtags will count as part of vote total from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET

The race for the 2013 All-Star Game Final Vote is coming down to the wire, and the final six hours of voting will see Twitter transformed into a virtual ballot.

Fans can vote for their candidate using the designated hashtag of that player from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. Those hashtags will count as part of the overall vote total used to determine the final player on the American League and National League All-Star rosters.

Entering the final day of voting, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (#VoteFreddie) leads the NL, while Blue Jays reliever Steve Delabar (#RaiseTheBar) is tops in the AL. Dodgers phenom Yasiel Puig (#VotePuig) and Yankees reliever David Robertson (#HighSocksForVotes) sit in second place, respectively.

Boston's Koji Uehara (#HighFiveCiti), Texas' Tanner Scheppers (#TakeTanner) and Detroit's Joaquin Benoit (#BackBenoit) comprise the remainder of the AL Final Vote ballot. The Giants' Hunter Pence (#VotePence), the Nationals' Ian Desmond (#DesiIn13) and the Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez (#VoteTitan) round out the NL options.

More than 50 million online votes have been cast already, and many of them have been prompted by Twitter promotions and requests. But on Thursday morning, the use of Twitter as a campaigning tool goes to a whole new level.

It marks the second consecutive year that the Final Vote will include a social balloting element. Fans may follow @MLB on the popular social networking service for the latest standings updates in advance of the 4 p.m. ET balloting deadline.

Mobile voting in the U.S. and Canada is open to everyone. In the U.S., to receive the 2013 All-Star Game Final Vote sponsored by freecreditscore.com mobile ballot, text the word "VOTE" to 89269. To vote for a specific player, simply text message your choice using the codes below to 89269 (Example: Text "A1" to vote for Joaquin Benoit). In Canada, fans should text their choices to 101010. Standard message and data rates may apply. To vote for your player via text message, use the codes below.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
A1 - Joaquin Benoit, Detroit
A2 - Steve Delabar, Toronto
A3 - David Robertson, New York Yankees
A4 - Tanner Scheppers, Texas
A5 - Koji Uehara, Boston

NATIONAL LEAGUE
N1 - Ian Desmond, Washington
N2 - Freddie Freeman, Atlanta
N3 - Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles
N4 - Hunter Pence, San Francisco
N5 - Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles

The fun doesn't end there, however. Fans, having already decided the starters and final player on each team, once again will have the opportunity to participate in the official voting for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player presented by Chevrolet via the 2013 All-Star Game MVP Vote on MLB.com during the All-Star Game.

The 84th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS, and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International's independent feed. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network and SiriusXM also will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.

AJ Cassavell is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajcassavell.