US votes for president

The United States went to polls on Tuesday to elect its president in one of the tightest races in decades between incumbent Republican George W Bush and his Democratic rival John Kerry.

Bush, accompanied by wife Laura, cast his ballot in Crawford, Texas, saying he was confident of securing another four-year term, but added that the election result must be decided quickly. "My hope, of course, is this election ends tonight..... The world watches our great democracy function, and it would be nothing better for our system for the election to be conclusively over tonight," he said.

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Voting began in the morning in 12 eastern states after the rivals campaigned on the final day, crossing paths in Milwaukee airport.

As per tradition, two hamlets in New Hampshire were the first to cast votes just after midnight (1030 IST).

The two candidates campaigned till early morning with Bush addressing a final rally in Dallas, Texas, with a message that a president must lead with clarity and take tough decision and "not shift with wind".

The 538 electors selected at the end of the day (the last polling station closes at 11.30 IST Wednesday in Alaska) will gather at their state capitals to cast their ballot for president and vice-president on December 13. The candidate who gets 270 or more electoral votes wins the presidency.

The number of electors per state is proportional to the number of members it has in Congress -- one for each House Representative (whose number is based on the state's population) and one each for the two senators from every state.

Apart from Maine and Nebraska, the other states and the District of Columbia (which has three electors) have a winner-take-all system, whereby whoever wins the popular vote gets all electors from that state.

In Maine and Nebraska, two electors are selected in a statewide vote and the rest according to the winner in each Congressional district

On December 13, the electors will gather in the state capital and vote for their candidate for president and vice-president.

The votes are sent to Congress, which counts and certifies it on January 6.

On January 20, the new president is formally inaugurated.