America and the world were riveted early this morning on the count in the closely fought US presidential election, whose outcome could change the direction of the US at home and abroad.
Early exit polls seemed to favour Democrat John Kerry though both camps were reluctant to draw conclusions before actual results started coming in early this morning. In 2000 Democrat Al Gore surged in some exit polls before falling back.
Record numbers turned out to vote after one of the most intriguing, intense and acrimonious elections in memory, causing long lines at polling places. Officials predicted that the turnout could approach 120 million, compared to 105 million four years ago. Even bad weather - rain in Ohio and snow in the Texas panhandle - did not discourage voters.
"Some polling places voted 25 per cent of their entire registered voters in the first hour," said Mr Tom Leach, spokesman for the Chicago Election Board. "That's just unheard of."
Compared to 2004 when just over 51 per cent of the electorate voted, some 60 per cent - a big percentage in an American presidential election - was expected to turn out yesterday, according to Mr Curtis Gans, director of the non-partisan Committee for the Study of the American Electorate.
Officials in Ohio said the turnout there could reach 70 per cent.
However, as rumours about the exit polls circulated yesterday, uncertainty over the future course of American politics caused shares on Wall Street to decline sharply.
The exit polls, which US networks did not publicise until polling closed yesterday evening, showed Mr Kerry doing much better than expected in key battleground states and getting the support of 10 per cent more women and 7 per cent fewer men than Mr Bush.
They also showed that Iraq was the most divisive issue between the two sides. Among Democratic voters 80 per cent said they disapproved of the war, while 90 per cent of Republicans said they approved.
Democrats put the economy and jobs at the top of their list of concerns while Republicans cited moral values and terrorism as their main issues.
Near-panic in the Republican camp over reports of slippage in Ohio caused President Bush to make an unprecedented extension of his campaign into election day and fly there yesterday morning.
At a party election headquarters in Columbus, Mr Bush worked the phones himself. "I promise you, it's me," he said to a doubting supporter on the other end of the line.
"I've given it my all," Mr Bush said earlier in Crawford, Texas, as he left a polling station in philosophical mood with his wife, Laura, and daughters, Barbara and Jenna. He later flew to Washington to await the count in the White House.
"It's just a magical kind of day," said a buoyant Mr Kerry in Wisconsin yesterday morning as he heard of record turnouts across the country, usually a good sign for Democrats. "We're going to take America to a better place."
Mr Kerry voted in Boston and later with his wife, Ms Teresa Heinz Kerry, had a traditional election day bowl of chowder at Boston's Union Oyster House.
Memories of 9/11 trigger support for Bush; Race for the White House: page 13