A divided nation is picking its next president today, amid concerns of potential voter intimidation and accusations by Donald Trump of rigged polls.
Mr Trump voted on Tuesday at around 11am in Manhattan, arriving at the polling station to boos and cheers accompanied by his wife Melania and daughter Ivanka.
But before voting, he told Fox News that he thought the polls, which show Hillary Clinton with a narrow victory, were intentionally wrong.
“I do think a lot of the polls are purposely wrong,” he said.
He predicted wins in the battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire, but ultimately said: "Who knows what`s going to happen?"
At around 8am Hillary Clinton had voted with her husband in Chappaqua, New York.
She said she was "humbled" by the process.
"It is the most humbling feeling because I know how much responsibility goes with this and so many people are counting on the outcome of this election," she said.
"I know how much responsibility is on it, what it means for this country and I`ll do the very best that I can if I`m fortunate enough to win today."
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Markets up on early voter turnout estimates
US stocks rose for a second straight session this afternoon, helped by early voter turnout estimates favoring Mrs Clinton.
Wall Street sees the former secretary of state as lending greater clarity and stability to the markets, while Republican candidate Donald Trump`s stance on foreign policy, trade and immigration is less certain.
Shortly after 2:30 pm ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 73.24 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,332.84, the S&P 500 had gained 6.46 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,137.98 and the Nasdaq Composite had added 20.96 points, or 0.41 percent, to 5,187.13.
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23:29
Pro-Democrat body files complaint against Eric Trump for ballot photo
Democratic Coalition Against Trump, an arm of the anti-Donald Trump Keep America Great PAC, has filed a complaint election officials after Eric Trump tweeted a photo of him casting his vote in New York.
Mr Trump`s son later deleted the tweet.
“Once again the the Trump family has acted like the laws don’t apply to them,” Scott Dworkin, the coalition’s senior director reportedly said. “When another celebrity did the same thing, he was vilified by the media. We shouldn’t turn a blind eye to Eric Trump’s serious misstep.”
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23:20
Trump on Nevada lawsuit: we must keep the system honest
Mr Trump has been speaking about the allegations of voter fraud in Nevada, stating "we must keep the system honest". He said that he was “going to have to see under what circumstances” he would accept the final election result.
Regarding the transition of power, he said he wanted “things to be very smooth”. He said he aware of election protocol, adding: “I was very good at history.”
"We`ll see how things play out," he said.
"There`s something really nice about the old paper ballot system," Mr Trump told Fox News, adding that while a paper voting system may take longer, it avoided fraud and hacking.
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23:00
Paper ballots being used instead of electronic voting after technical problems in North Carolina
Presidential elections usually include sporadic voting problems, such as machines not working properly. Calls to Election Protection, a national voter helpline, included people reporting long lines as a result of machine problems in three precincts in Virginia. And election officials at a handful of precincts in Durham County, North Carolina, were using paper roll books after technical issues with computer check-in.
Ahead of the election, there was anxiety over whether voters would face problems. Mr Trump has repeatedly said the election was rigged and Democrats warned that Republicans were planning to intimidate voters. There were also concerns about hackers disrupting election systems.
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22:46
Footage of the topless protester crashing the Trump polling station
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22:27
Trump campaign claims voting fraud in Nevada
The Trump campaign has launched a lawsuit in Nevada claiming election officials in Clark County "intentionally coordinated with Democratic activists" to skew the vote.
The suit alleges the polling station had been allowed to remain open late last week to accommodate people who were lined up to vote.
The registrar violated state law and asked that the ballots from that polling place be kept separate from other votes, pending any future legal challenges to the results in the state, the suit alleges. The Trump campaign says these votes should not be "comingled" with other votes.
There was no response from Democrats or Clark County officials.
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22:22
Like father, like son...
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21:32
High turnout reported
It took voters an average of 14 minutes to vote according to a New York Times poll in 2012. Voters in some states are reportedly waiting about 45 minutes to vote this time round.
In Philadelphia, in the critical Pennsylvania there are some complaints that poll workers are overwhelmed, with big early scenes in some stations.
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21:28
Donald Trump peeking at his wife`s vote
Twitter users have been sharing a picture of Donald Trump appearing to sneak a look at his wife Melania Trump`s voting ballot as they turned out together today in New York.
Some joked he didn`t know how to vote and was peeking at his wife`s for guidance, but others said in jest that it could be because he was worried his wife wasn`t voting for him.
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21:25
Exit poll: Voters want "a strong leader"
This from Politico:
More voters this year are looking for a strong leader than in previous presidential elections, according to an early morning exit poll, whose results could shift significantly over the course of Election Day.
The first results from the Morning Consult/POLITICO Exit Poll of early and Election-Day voters also show few voters are feeling joy and pride at the climax of the campaign.
Asked what characteristic is most important for the next president, 36 per cent of voters say they want a "strong leader," 29 per cent want "a vision for the future," 16 per cent want someone who "cares about people like me" and another 16 per cent said they want someone who "shares my values."
The percentage of voters thus far who say they want a strong leader - a characterization Donald Trump`s team made central to his campaign - is twice the percentage who said they were looking for a strong leader in the 2012 National Election Pool exit poll.
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21:21
Mike Pence casts his vote
All four main players in the election - Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, Donald Trump and Mike Pence - have now voted.
Pence: `I voted for Donald Trump`
Mike Pence left the Indiana governor`s residence at 11:38 this morning, strolled across the street with his wife Karen and daughter Charlotte, and cast his ballot at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church and School.
"You all know Karen and I met at this church," Pence remarked to the press as he walked down the driveway.
The three Pences stood in consecutive booths as they filled out their ballots.
"You got my vote," Karen Pence told him, hugging him after casting her vote.
"A day like today is very humbling and very moving for our little family," Pence said outside the polling place. "I`m also especially grateful to the people of Indiana today who have given our family opportunities to serve."
When asked how he voted, he replied:"I voted for Donald Trump."
Pence will soon head to New York for a gathering with Trump at Trump Tower before heading to the Midtown Hilton for this evening`s party.
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20:18
Hawaii has just opened its polls
Every state in the US is now voting.
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21:10
Utah resorts to paper ballots
Election officials say voting machine problems in southern Utah are forcing poll workers to use paper ballots, potentially affecting tens of thousands of people.
Utah Director of Elections Mark Thomas says a programming problem has affected all voting in Washington County, but so far appears it appears limited to that county.
He says about 52,000 registered voters there have yet to cast their ballots.
Election workers are trying to fix the computer problem and hope they can start using the voting machines later in the day.
Mr Thomas says officials were prepared with backup paper ballots. But he said they will need to print more if the problem persists.
There are about 80,000 total registered voters in Washington County. Some 28,000 have already cast their ballots through early voting.
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20:41
Donald Trump says the polls were deliberately wrong
According to the blog The Hill, Donald Trump early on Tuesday dismissed polling showing a tight race on Election Day.
Speaking to Fox and Friends, he said:
“I do think a lot of the polls are purposely wrong.”
Trump predicted wins in the battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire, but ultimately said, "Who knows what`s going to happen?"
***
20:36
Meanwhile... Barack Obama plays basketball
Barack Obama has done everything he can to get Hillary Clinton elected.
Seventeen rallies later, all he can do at this point is sit back and wait to find out who his successor will be.
He`s not sitting around this morning, though.
Perhaps for good luck, and perhaps to relieve some of the nerves, he is playing basketball this morning with aides at the White House.
It`s a tradition dating back to election days during his own political campaigns.
Citing his age, he has largely given up the sport for golf over the course of his presidency, but he`s turning back the clock on Election Day.
***
20:32
More images of the Trumps arriving to vote
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20:21
Julian Assange: WikiLeaks wasn`t trying to influence the election
AP: WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange says he wasn`t trying to influence the US presidential election when his organization published hacked emails from Hillary Clinton`s campaign.
In a statement on Tuesday, Assange denied he was trying to support Green Party candidate Jill Stein or take revenge for the jailing of former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking secret US government documents to WikiLeaks.
Assange suggests WikiLeaks would publish material on Clinton`s Republican rival Donald Trump, if it received appropriate material and judged it newsworthy.
Assange said Wikileaks has not yet received information on the campaigns of Trump, Stein or other candidates "that fulfills our stated editorial criteria."
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20:16
Donald Trump booed as he arrives to vote
The footage has spotted on Twitter.
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20:06
Did Eric Trump violate election law?
Political blog The Hill reports that Eric Trump may have violated election law.
Donald Trump`s younger son photographed a picture of his ballot in New York on Election Day.
“It is an incredible honor to vote for my father! He will do such a great job for the U.S.A!” Trump tweeted Tuesday morning with a photo of his ballot.
The tweet has since been deleted.
New York is among the states that prohibits photographs in polling stations, sharing completed ballots and taking ballot selfies. Justin Timberlake was wrapped over the knuckles for a similar stunt.
New York Magazine said last week violations carry penalties of a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail, and a judge last week rejected a petition from three New Yorkers to allow ballot selfies this year.
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19:57
Donald Trump arrives at New York polling station
Donald Trump`s motorcade has just pulled up at the polling station in New York, on 55th Street - close to Trump Tower.
He has just gone in with daughter Ivanka and wife Melania, and was greeted by cheers and boos.
He high-fived some waiting children, buying a cupcake from them.
Asked whether he had any news, he said:
"It`s very good."
Earlier this morning he went on Fox News and revealed that he was planning on voting for himself...
***
19:14
All states but one now voting
Polls have just opened in the following states:
Alaska
California
Idaho
Nevada
Washington
- that means that only Hawaii is yet to start voting.
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18:40
Voter intimidation?
Donald Trump used a rally to encourage his supporters to "watch" people as they vote.
He`s also described the system as "rigged" and said the vote was being "stolen."
Most people believe this is nonsense, and widespread voter fraud is all but impossible.
However, America is on alert for any sign of fraud or intimidation, with a hotline set up to report issues.
***
18:36
Voter intimidation by Maine governor?
Paul LePage, the controversial governor of Maine, is being accused of intimidating college students by saying those who vote in Tuesday’s election will be investigated to make sure they follow state law.
Mr LePage, a Republican, said that after the election, "we will do everything" allowed under state and federal law to verify college students who voted are following Maine law.
His office didn`t respond to Fox News`s request for comment and provided no further details about what that means.
Zachary Heiden, legal director at the ACLU of Maine, called on the Department of Justice to investigate the intent behind Mr LePage`s statement.
He said Mr LePage`s words appear "designed to make college students afraid to vote.
“College students who live in Maine have the right to vote in Maine, and they are not subject to different laws than anyone else. Many of these young people are voting for the first time in a presidential election. The governor should be encouraging that civic participation, not doing everything in his power to undermine it.”
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18:06
Topless protest at Trump`s polling station
Two women have been arrested, it seems, after staging a topless protest at the polling station where Donald Trump is due to cast his vote.
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18:02
Hillary Clinton casts vote in US election
Watch as Hillary Clinton and husband Bill cast their vote for the US election in New York.
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17:57
Six more states open their polling booths
That now takes it to 44 states open.
Colorado (9am - 9pm ET)
Montana (9am - 10pm ET)
New Mexico (9am - 9pm ET)
Nebraska (9am - 9pm ET)
Oregon (9am - 11pm ET)
Utah (9am – 10pm ET)
Wyoming (9am - 9pm ET)
***
17:45
"What`s Zealand?" - Confused Trump supporter responds to New Zealand journalist
Our online news reporter, Helena Horton, writes:
Footage of a Trump supporter seemingly not knowing what New Zealand is has emerged online.
New Zealand journalist Patrick Gower was confronted by an angry Donald Trump supporter at a rally last week in Florida.
As Mr Gower tried to ask some questions to and film the crowd, one supporter angrily said: "I`m not talking to the Clinton media! You guys are a sell-out!"
The journalist explained: "I`m from New Zealand though, I`m not part of the Clinton media."
The Trump supporter replied: "What`s Zealand? You`re not part of the Clinton network are you? You`re not part of the lying media are you?"
As the journalist tried to explain there is no such thing as a "Clinton network" and that he is from New Zealand the country, the Trump supporter called him “disgusting”, saying: “You sell out your own profession… Your children`s food, you sell it out!”
“He was literally frothing at the mouth, taken aback,” Mr Gower told BuzzFeed News. “One person was trying to say, y`know: `New Zealand is a country`, but it didn`t help.
"And then another guy popped up and was saying: `We are the media now`.
"He was saying: `You`re on Facebook Live! We are our own media! We don`t need you.”
***
17:40
Donald Trump speaks to Fox News
“I`ve decided to vote for Trump,” jokes Donald Trump on Fox News` Fox and Friends this morning.
“It`s very exciting. I`ve spoken to you folks for a lot during very successful primaries... I`m a little bit superstitious so when you said please call, I called,” he said.
They asked if he`d changed during the campaign.
“It`s been an amazing process, about 17 or 18 months since I came up with it... it`s been a beautiful process, the people of this country are incredible, I`ve met the people at every level and they are amazing.
"People say what have you learned? That`s what I`ve learned: the people are amazing.
“I see so many hopes and so many dreams that didn`t happen that could have happened with proper leadership.
“People are hurting, veterans are hurting… they`ve been hurt so badly, being taken care of so badly.
“It`s very sad. At the same time, our country has such tremendous potential.
“I`m doing very well in North Carolina, very very well in Florida.”
Both of those states are critical for Trump to win the presidency.
“We`re doing very well in New Hampshire, Ohio is incredible, just a great place. We`re going to win Iowa. We`ve had such great experience there. We`re going to win Iowa, Ohio, New Hampshire. Who knows what happens ultimately, but we`re going to win a lot of states."
He also mentioned Michigan and Wisconsin as possible states (both have large groups of working-class white voters), that he could win.
“Car production has been ripped out of that state and gone to Mexico, I think we`re going to really do well in Michigan. We`re getting very good reports out of Wisconsin.
“In the case of Jay Z, the language he used was terrible. The language was unbelievable that Jay Z and Beyonce used, a lot of people left because of the language."
Buzzfeed reported yesterday that there was no indication people left because they were upset.
Asked if Trump would regret running if he doesn`t win, he says that others have told him he`s started a political movement and that he should be proud of that.
However he adds,
“I will consider it a waste of time, energy and money,” he says, saying that he`s spent over $100 million of his own money on the campaign.
However, latest election filings show he has spent $66 million.
“I will not consider it great if I don`t win,” adds Trump.
Fox News asked for his final message to voters. Trump replied:
We have a great, great country, we have tremendous potential. Go out, and vote.
***
17:31
Early-risers begin voting for their new president
After an exhausting, wild, bitter, and sometimes sordid campaign, Americans in New York and Ohio finally began voting on Tuesday for a new president: either the billionaire populist Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, seeking to become the first woman to win the White House.
Early-rising voters in nine states mainly along the East Coast got first crack at a pivotal election that has a nervous world watching closely after a campaign like no other.
This timelapse captures the number of voters who cast their ballots in just half an hour this morning.
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17:29
Hillary Clinton greets fans in New York state
Hillary Clinton has just spoken to reporters outside the polling station in Chappaqua.
She said she was aware of the responsibility she was assuming, and if elected hopes to lead the country with strength.
Bill Clinton looked far more jovial, enjoying the moment and joking at the many years he had been through the same process.
***
No guns in polling stations...
Helena Horton has just spotted this helpful reminder, from a polling station in Missouri.
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17 : 25
Tim Kaine casts his vote
Earlier this morning Tim Kaine, the vice-presidential pick for Hillary Clinton, cast his vote in Richmond, Virginia.
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Read the previous story from Polls and odds tracker
Based on polling data from RealClearPolitics, we have the latest state-by-state predictions and an estimate of the overall electoral college vote.
The news that the FBI had reopened its investigation into Hillary Clinton`s use of a private server last weekend handed Donald Trump an unexpected boost ahead of the vote.
The FBI obtained a warrant to begin searching newly discovered emails belonging to Huma Abedin, a top aide of Hillary Clinton, with Clinton`s use of emails also in the spotlight.
It seemed likely that Clinton would have to finish the campaign with unspecified allegations hanging over her. But she still retained the lead, according to polling figures, despite it having been narrowed to within a couple of percentage points.
Yesterday, however, the FBI cleared Clinton of any criminal wrongdoing, something she will hope will see more voters swing her way in the polling booths.
Clinton has been ahead almost continuously in the Telegraph`s poll of polls, which takes an average of the last five polls published on RealClearPolitics.
The presidential campaign has seen Donald Trump, once a Republican outsider, close the gap on Clinton before falling back after a series of controversies.
Trump has briefly pulled ahead a couple of times - first on 19 May. His polling threatened to consistently overtake Clinton in September, but has since fallen back after a series of allegations of sexual assault were made against him.
Trump is prone to making gaffes and alienating key demographic groups with his comments. His comments on sexually assaulting women, as well as poor performances in the presidential debates, had seen Clinton extend her lead.
However, with the news that the FBI is once again investigating Clinton, a lot could change between now and election day.
The New York Times has worked out that, even one day before previous elections, a simple polling average has differed from the final result by about four percentage points. With the polls being still close, anything could happen.
Nationwide voting is conducted biannually — including non-presidential-year races for Congress — on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. This year, polls will begin closing as of 6 pm EST, with the last polling stations — in western Alaska — scheduled to close at 1 a.m. EST on Wednesday.
Results are expected to begin coming in around 6 pm EST from Indiana and Kentucky.
Election Day is a civic holiday in a few states, including Delaware and New Jersey, while in others some employers give workers time off to vote.
President Barack Obama’s second term will officially end at noon EST on January 20, 2017, whereupon the winner of Tuesday’s election will be sworn into office.
