Polling is under way in California's recall election, a vote largely seen as a choice between embattled Democratic Governor Gray Davis and Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. (3 p.m. Irish time) and were set to close at 8 p.m. (4 a.m. Irish time) on a busy day of balloting projected to reach or top the level of the November 2000 presidential election when 71 per cent of eligible voters turned out.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger
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About 15.4 million state voters registered for the election, according to state officials. More than two million absentee ballots had already been received.
Although preliminary results were expected early tomorrow morning Irish time it could be weeks until the state certifies the official result and some observers held out the prospect of a recount or a court challenge if the vote proves close.
Having amassed the necessary signatures to petition for a recall of Mr Davis, and overcoming several legal challenges, Mr Schwarzenegger has been dogged by allegations over his past behaviour.
Having been a clear favourite to win the historic race in only the second gubernatorial recall in US history, a flurry of allegations about the movie star's sexual past has narrowed the margin according to opinion polls.
What began as a Republican-led protest vote over Governor Davis's handling of the state's economy and recent energy crisis has become a referendum on Mr Schwarzenegger's credentials for leading the world's fifth-largest economy.
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Davis, after getting a rousing welcome fromfirefighters San Francisco, endedhis day in downtown Los Angeles, where union members mixed with bosses in a noisy get-out-the-vote rally.
"This race is razor close -- right there on the edge," hetold the crowd of about 400. "We need to do everything we can in the next 24 to 36 hours ... to reaffirm the democratic values we hold so dear. Let's get to it!"
Mr Davis's campaign said its new tracking survey of 1,200 likely voters found a 50 per cent to 48 per cent split between those favoring a "yes" vote on the recall and those planning to vote "no".
The survey was at odds with the latest independent statewide poll, issued on Sunday, which found a 54 to 41 per cent spread between recall supporters and opponents.
But both those polls included sampling from before and after allegations surfaced that Mr Schwarzenegger groped or sexually harassed 15 women over the years and once expressed admiration for Hitler, a claim he denies strongly.