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US voters flock to the polls
Voters have crowded polling stations in the US for the country's presidential election after months of furious campaigning by Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, and John McCain, his Republican rival.
Polling stations in states along the eastern coast were the first to open, with more than 100 million people expected to cast their ballots before the end of Tuesday.
About 29 million people voted before election day as 30 states opened their polling stations for early voters.
Obama, who would be the first African-American in the White House if he wins the election, has retained a lead in most nationwide opinion polls and has the advantage in most of the battleground states, which are expected to decide the election.
But John McCain, his Republican rival, has dismissed the opinion polls and promised an upset.
Obama cast his ballot at a school gymnasium in his home city of Chicago with his wife and daughter by his side.
Residents of Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, two villages in New Hampshire with just 115 residents between them, were the first to cast their votes on election day, going to the polls at midnight local time (05:00GMT Tuesday).
Obama won by 15 votes to six in Dixville Notch, which has opened its polling station shortly after midnight at every election since 1960, and 17 votes to 10 in Hart's Location.
George Bush, the outgoing president, won the votes in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location on his way to re-election in 2004.
The first polls begin to close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6pm local time (2300 GMT). Voting ends over the next six hours in the other 48 states.
Final push
On the final full day of campaigning, McCain, the Arizona senator, launched a major tour of seven states including Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada before heading to his home state.
"I'm an American and I choose to fight. Don't give up hope, be strong, have courage and fight," McCain said as he addressed about 1,000 supporters in Blountville, Tennessee.
"Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight."
Obama told supporters on Monday they were "one day from change" as he travelled through North Carolina, Florida and Virginia.
He also continued his attacks on McCain as he wrapped up on Monday in front of 70,000 people in Virginia, saying the Republican represented a third term for Bush's policies.
"When it comes to the economy, the truth is that John McCain has stood with President Bush every step of the way," Obama said in Manassas.
But the event was overshadowed by the death from cancer of his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, at the age of 86.
He had suspended his campaign last week for two days to visit a hospital in his native Hawaii to be at the side of the woman who acted in many ways as his surrogate mother.
Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, said both candidates had continued to emphasise their differences up until voting began.
"They were still hammering hard on the gaps between the two sides," he said.
"Barack Obama was certainly making it clear McCain was going to extend the role of Bush and Cheney, whereas John McCain on his part was saying Barack Obama was going to tax the middle classes.
"Both sides have been going at it hammer-and-tongs for so long that I think they simply didn't know how to take their foot off the gas, because sides think this is going to be a close election and both sides still think they have a chance to win."
Battleground states
Under the US political system, the president is elected not by direct popular vote but by capturing 270 out of 538 electoral votes distributed throughout the country in a state-by-state contest.
Obama leads McCain in five of eight key battleground states, according to a series of Reuters/Zogby polls released on Tuesday.
The new state surveys indicated Obama had a slim one-point lead in Florida and two-point edge in Ohio, within the margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. He also held more sizeable leads in Virginia and Nevada.
All four states were won by George Bush, the current US president, in 2004.
Obama leads by 10 percentage points in Pennsylvania, which McCain has targeted as his best chance to steal a state won by the Democrats in 2004, the Reuters/Zogby survey said.
A Quinnipiac University poll examining the three battleground states with the largest number of electoral votes - Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida - indicated Obama's lead had narrowed slightly from 51 to 42 per cent in Ohio and 53 to 41 per cent in Pennsylvania, with Florida too close to call.
A nationwide Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll put Obama ahead by 51 per cent to 43 per cent, while a Washington Post-ABC News poll put the spread at 54-43 per cent, and a Rasmussen poll had Obama ahead by 51 to 46 per cent.
Voters have crowded polling stations in the US for the country's presidential election after months of furious campaigning by Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, and John McCain, his Republican rival.
Polling stations in states along the eastern coast were the first to open, with more than 100 million people expected to cast their ballots before the end of Tuesday.
About 29 million people voted before election day as 30 states opened their polling stations for early voters.
Obama, who would be the first African-American in the White House if he wins the election, has retained a lead in most nationwide opinion polls and has the advantage in most of the battleground states, which are expected to decide the election.
But John McCain, his Republican rival, has dismissed the opinion polls and promised an upset.
Obama cast his ballot at a school gymnasium in his home city of Chicago with his wife and daughter by his side.
Residents of Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, two villages in New Hampshire with just 115 residents between them, were the first to cast their votes on election day, going to the polls at midnight local time (05:00GMT Tuesday).
Obama won by 15 votes to six in Dixville Notch, which has opened its polling station shortly after midnight at every election since 1960, and 17 votes to 10 in Hart's Location.
George Bush, the outgoing president, won the votes in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location on his way to re-election in 2004.
The first polls begin to close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6pm local time (2300 GMT). Voting ends over the next six hours in the other 48 states.
Final push
On the final full day of campaigning, McCain, the Arizona senator, launched a major tour of seven states including Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada before heading to his home state.
"I'm an American and I choose to fight. Don't give up hope, be strong, have courage and fight," McCain said as he addressed about 1,000 supporters in Blountville, Tennessee.
"Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight."
Obama told supporters on Monday they were "one day from change" as he travelled through North Carolina, Florida and Virginia.
He also continued his attacks on McCain as he wrapped up on Monday in front of 70,000 people in Virginia, saying the Republican represented a third term for Bush's policies.
"When it comes to the economy, the truth is that John McCain has stood with President Bush every step of the way," Obama said in Manassas.
But the event was overshadowed by the death from cancer of his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, at the age of 86.
He had suspended his campaign last week for two days to visit a hospital in his native Hawaii to be at the side of the woman who acted in many ways as his surrogate mother.
Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, said both candidates had continued to emphasise their differences up until voting began.
"They were still hammering hard on the gaps between the two sides," he said.
"Barack Obama was certainly making it clear McCain was going to extend the role of Bush and Cheney, whereas John McCain on his part was saying Barack Obama was going to tax the middle classes.
"Both sides have been going at it hammer-and-tongs for so long that I think they simply didn't know how to take their foot off the gas, because sides think this is going to be a close election and both sides still think they have a chance to win."
Battleground states
Under the US political system, the president is elected not by direct popular vote but by capturing 270 out of 538 electoral votes distributed throughout the country in a state-by-state contest.
Obama leads McCain in five of eight key battleground states, according to a series of Reuters/Zogby polls released on Tuesday.
The new state surveys indicated Obama had a slim one-point lead in Florida and two-point edge in Ohio, within the margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. He also held more sizeable leads in Virginia and Nevada.
All four states were won by George Bush, the current US president, in 2004.
Obama leads by 10 percentage points in Pennsylvania, which McCain has targeted as his best chance to steal a state won by the Democrats in 2004, the Reuters/Zogby survey said.
A Quinnipiac University poll examining the three battleground states with the largest number of electoral votes - Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida - indicated Obama's lead had narrowed slightly from 51 to 42 per cent in Ohio and 53 to 41 per cent in Pennsylvania, with Florida too close to call.
A nationwide Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll put Obama ahead by 51 per cent to 43 per cent, while a Washington Post-ABC News poll put the spread at 54-43 per cent, and a Rasmussen poll had Obama ahead by 51 to 46 per cent.
