THE outcome of the United States presidential election is on a knife edge, with Donald Trump and his rival, Joe Biden, neck and neck in key swing states.
Mr Biden, a Democrat, said he was “on track” to victory, while Mr Trump, a Republican, claimed “a big win”.
The president is projected to have held the must-win state of Florida – a major boost to his re-election bid.
But Mr Biden could snatch Arizona, a once reliably conservative state. The vote caps a long and bitter race.
Other key states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina are toss-ups.
With the nation on edge, the final result may not be known for days as postal votes are tallied.
More than 100 million people cast their ballots in early voting before election day on Tuesday – setting US on course for its highest turnout in a century.
Control of Congress is also at stake. As well as the White House, Republicans are vying to hang on to a Senate majority.
Republicans have lost a Senate seat in Colorado, but gained one in Alabama.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, and Trump ally Lindsey Graham have both been re-elected.
The House of Representatives is expected to stay in Democratic hands.
What are the presidential results so far?
With partial results in, Mr Biden has a solid lead in Arizona. Fox News has projected Mr Biden will win that state and CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, said it was leaning the Democrat’s way.
But the Trump campaign said it was too early to declare a winner in Arizona. A loss for Mr Trump in that once reliably Republican state would be a potentially serious setback.
The BBC projects Mr Trump will win another conservative sunbelt state, Texas, where the Biden campaign had dreamed of an upset victory.
The Rust Belt battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – which propelled Mr Trump to the White House four years ago – still look as though they could tip either way.
Pennsylvania, along with Florida, is considered a must-win for Mr Trump if he is to stave off defeat.
Cliffhanger counts are also under way in two more critical swing states on the East Coast, Georgia and North Carolina.
No surprises have emerged yet in the other states.
Mr Trump will keep hold of Ohio and Missouri, known as bellwether states because they have so often predicted the eventual winner, according to the BBC’s projection.
The BBC also projects Mr Trump will win Florida, Iowa, Montana, Alabama, Mississippi, Idaho, Wyoming, South Carolina, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, Louisiana, Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas and West Virginia, all as expected.
Mr Trump is also projected by the BBC to win Nebraska, though Mr Biden picked up one vote there in the electoral college, which could turn out to be crucial if the race goes down to the wire.
Mr Biden will retain his home state of Delaware and the battleground state of Minnesota for Democrats, along with California, Virginia, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Mexico, Colorado, Vermont, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington DC, according to BBC projections.
CBS projects Nevada, Maine and Hawaii were also trending towards Mr Biden.
National opinion polls gave a firm lead to Mr Biden, but pointed to a closer race in the handful of states that are likely to decide the outcome.
Projections are based on a mixture of exit poll data and, in most cases, actual votes counted – and are only made where there is a high degree of certainty.
In the US election, voters decide state-level contests rather than an overall, single, national one.
Conservative Nebraska would seem to be an unlikely electoral battleground. There is a scenario, however, where the state – or at least part of it – could decide who becomes the next US president.
Donald Trump is projected to win here – but in a surprise, Joe Biden was able to pick up one of its five electoral college votes.
This is because Nebraska is one of two states that allots some of their electoral college votes to the winners of individual congressional districts, in addition to the victor in the overall popular vote.
Mr Biden is projected to carry one of these districts, the second, which includes the largest city in the state, Omaha.
If the presidential race is close – if, for instance, Mr Biden flips Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan from 2016 but loses Pennsylvania – having won Omaha could be the key in determining whether the Democrat becomes president.
The year 2020, full of surprises and turmoil, may have a few tricks left up its sleeve still.
– BBC
