WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (AFP) - Democratic candidate John Kerry narrowed President George W. Bush's lead in Tuesday's extremely tight race for the White House but nearly all the crucial swing states remained too close to call amid heavy voter turnout.
As expected, Kerry took the west coast prize of California with its 55 electoral votes, according to US television networks, which just moments earlier projected the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania would fall into the challenger's column.
Those victories pulled Kerry to 188 electoral votes just 12 short of Bush who, with 200, was only 70 votes from winning a second term as president, the networks said.
Bush was projected to win 23 states with Kerry winning 12 states plus the District of Columbia, they said.
But with polling stations officially closed all but one state, Alaska, except for some remaining open to accomodate unusually large turnouts, nearly all key swing states remained in play with results too close to call.
Ninety-nine electoral votes in swing states, more than enough to tilt the scales, were still up for grabs, including 47 in Florida and Ohio where both candidates were hoping for strong showings.
In Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin, other hotly contested states, the status of 51 electoral votes was also unclear.
Bush won Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Ohio in the 2000 election, but this year, well after polls closed, the networks said both states remained in play.
Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin all of which were taken by Bush's 2000 challenger Al Gore, were also impossible to call, they said.
Bush won Florida and the presidency by only 537 votes in 2000, after the US Supreme Court halted five weeks of recounts there.
The narrow margins revealed by Tuesday's preliminary returns and exit polls suggested another extremely close race amid heavy voter turnout.
Bush told reporters at the White House he was "very upbeat" and predicted victory over Kerry. "I believe I will win ... I feel good about it," he said.
Kerry had no comment on the projections but campaign adviser Joe Lockhart said the Massachussetts senator was "bullish" on his prospects for victory.
In terms of the popular vote, Bush was leading with 34.9 million votes, or 51 percent, to Kerry's 33.1 million votes, or 48 percent, with 54 percent of the country's precincts reporting, according to CNN.
Bush pulled out victories in several states that he had been widely expected to win but had been too close to call until several hours after their polls closed.
After hesitating initially, all the major US networks projected that Bush, as he did in 2000, would take North and South Carolina and Virginia with their 36 electoral votes.
In addition to those states, Bush was set to win Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming, according to the networks.
Along with California and Pennsylania, the projections showed Kerry taking Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.
11/03/2004 04:25 GMT - AFP