US elections: Clinton or Trump? America waits as suspense builds

NEW DELHI: America's ugly and unpredictable presidential election barreled toward the finish Tuesday night, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump fighting for Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, three of the nation's most competitive states.
Republican Donald Trump held slight leads in the vital battleground states of Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio on Tuesday, clinging to a narrow advantage over Democrat Hillary Clinton in key states that could decide their race for the White House.
With voting completed in more than two-thirds of the 50 US states, the race was too close to call in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Virginia, leaving the race for the White House on a knife's edge.
Both candidates scored victories in states where they were expected to win. Trump captured conservative states in the South and Midwest, while Clinton swept several states on the East Coast and Illinois in the Midwest.
But Trump's slight edge in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio gave him an early advantage in the state-by-state fight for 270 Electoral College votes needed to win.
Clinton had more options to reach 270, with Trump needing a virtual sweep of about six toss-up states to win. But a Trump win in those four states would make it nearly impossible for Clinton to clinch the White House.
As of 9.25 IST, Trump had 197 electoral votes to Clinton's 131, with US television networks projecting the winner in 25 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Battle for Congress: Republicans projected to hold US House
Republicans will hold on to their majority in the US House of Representatives as expected, networks projected Tuesday, as attention shifts to the Senate where the battle for control is tighter.
With the US election in full swing, the party of populists presidential candidate Donald Trump was on track to take 235 seats to the Democrats' 200, according to NBC's House model.
That would be a 12-seat gain for Democrats, but still far short of what would be necessary to snatch the chamber back from Republican control.
By holding the House, Republicans secure a policy check on Hillary Clinton in the event she wins the presidency.
And, if Trump wins, it will be far easier for the chief executive to push through legislation that he or she wishes.
The Senate, where 34 of the 100 seats are in play Tuesday, is also in Republican hands, but under sharper threat of a Democratic takeover.
With that chamber currently 54 to 46 in the GOP's favor, Democrats need to gain five seats for a clean majority.
In the event the Senate is 50-50, control goes to the party that wins the White House, because the US vice president serves as the deciding vote in the event of a tie.
Democrats claimed a quick pick up Tuesday in Illinois, where two-term congresswoman and Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth defeated incumbent Senator Mark Kirk.
But Republicans bolstered their chances to hold the upper chamber when Senator Marco Rubio, a former Trump rival in the Republican primaries, fought off a challenge in Florida to keep his seat.
A handful of other Senate races with Republican incumbents, in states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and North Carolina, are considered tossups.
What are electoral votes?
When Americans cast their votes during a general election, they do so for the Presidential candidate of their choice, but what really matters is the number of electors their state has. Each political party chooses its own set of potential electors for each state before Election Day, and the electors' votes are called electoral votes The electors from all 50 states make up an electoral college, which elects the US President. A candidate needs to get at least 270 out of 538 electoral votes to win.
In the vast majority of US states, if a candidate wins a majority of the public vote, he or she usually gets all the votes of his party’s electors. But here’s the catch: not all states are allowed the same number of electors. For example, California gets 55 electoral votes, and New York 28.
See the Associated Press' interactive map of the election results.
(With inputs from agencies)