Voters turned out in unusually large numbers on Tuesday to deliver a verdict on US President George Bush and Democratic Senator John Kerry after a bitter White House race that remained too close to call.As many as 125 million Americans were voting to choose their leader for the next four years and set the country’s course on the Iraq war, the fight against terrorism, the economy and foreign relations. Surveys showed a dead heat nationally and contradictory polls, indicating most of the 10 hardest fought battleground states could tip either way.Voters around the country showed up well before the polls opened and were unusually motivated amid lingering bitterness over the 2000 election, when Bush lost the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore but won the Electoral College after the US Supreme Court stopped the vote recount in Florida.There were scattered reports of irregularities, including that vandals in Milwaukee slashed the tires of cars that were to take voters to the polls and allegations, quickly denied by the district attorney, of ballot stuffing in a poor black Philadelphia neighbourhood.Republicans and Democrats said the election outcome may not be known quickly, with both sides fielding armies of lawyers to challenge close results and girding for the possibility of a legal drag like 2000’s five-week battle.About 105 million Americans voted in 2000 but more than 20 million more are expected to vote in this election.Bush said he was confident after voting at the firehouse near his Crawford, Texas, ranch and, without mentioning the WTC attacks explicitly, said the election boiled down to whom voters trusted to secure the country.‘‘I believe I’m going to win,’’ Bush said before flying to the battleground state of Ohio for a pep rally with Republican election volunteers and then returning to the White House. ‘‘My hope, of course, is that this election ends tonight.I’ve given it my all.’’In his own drive to get people to the polls, Kerry met Democratic activists in La Crosse, Wisconsin, a battleground state that is one of the few to allow same-day registration, and hammered Bush on his conduct of the Iraq war. ‘‘You have a choice, all Americans have this choice today,’’ the Massachusetts Senator said before heading home to Boston to vote. ‘‘George Bush made his choices. He made a choice without a plan to win the peace.’’In addition to the Presidential race, Americans will decide which party holds power in Congress and will vote on governorships in 11 states - Bush’s Republicans are favoured to retain control of the Senate and House of Representatives.As in 2000, the Presidential spotlight will be on Florida along with the new showdown state of Ohio, both won narrowly by Bush four years ago and the biggest remaining toss-up states.Florida officials reported no early problems as voters cast ballots. More than 10 million Floridians were eligible to vote, and lines were long at polling stations.Kerry must win at least one of the two states to have a realistic shot at victory, while a Bush loss in Florida would leave him in danger unless he took Pennsylvania or some Midwestern states like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa — all won by Gore in 2000. —Reuters
