WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush was set to claim victory and a second term in the White House, though Democrat John Kerry refused to concede, leaving the US election snared in a stalemate for the second time in four years.
After a marathon campaign dominated by the war on terror and the invasion of Iraq, Republicans and Democrats battled over the result in the crucial state of Ohio and no official winner was immediately declared.
"We are convinced that President Bush has won re-election with at least 286 Electoral College votes," Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff, told a Republican campaign victory rally in Washington early Wednesday.
The aide called it a "decisive margin" of victory, with the president more than 3.5 million votes ahead of Kerry.
"In this election, President Bush received more votes than any presidential candidate in our country`s history."
Card said Bush had a lead of 140,000 votes in Ohio, which was "statistically insurmountable." But other sources gave a different tally.
Bush went to sleep shortly after 5:00 am (1000 GMT), according to his official spokesman. But in a nerve-wracking reminder of the contest for Florida in 2000 that was finally decided by the US Supreme Court, he was not 100 percent sure of victory.
The final result from the Midwestern state could take days to materialize.
Fox News and NBC gave Bush the state and an almost certain triumphant re-election. But CNN said it was too close to call and other networks made no judgment.
Kerry`s running-mate, John Edwards, vowed: "We will fight for every vote."
Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said more than 250,000 votes remained to be counted in Ohio. "We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio."
Bush campaign communications director Nicolle Devenish called Kerry`s refusal to concede "delusional."
But for the second straight time, a US presidential election foundered on the archaic US system based on 538 electoral votes that are awarded in separate state contests.
The candidates and officials of both parties had been hoping to avoid a replay of the 2000 debacle, when Bush won only after a 36-day legal battle over the recount. In the end, Bush won the state by 537 votes.
Network projections early Wednesday gave the Republican 28 states with 254 electoral votes, short of the 270 needed to win. Kerry had 18 states and the federal capital, Washington, DC, for 242 electoral votes.
The president led Kerry nationwide by 3.5 million votes, a sweet reversal from four years ago, when he lost the popular tally to Gore by more than half a million votes.
Ohio`s 20 electors would bring Bush to the brink of victory. Without them, he would need to snatch the Midwestern states of Wisconsin (with 10 electors) and Iowa (with seven) from the Democrats. Both were too close to call.
The Democrats said as many as 250,000 provisional ballots, which are subject to verification of the voter`s eligibility, could hold the balance in Ohio, where Bush led by more than 130,000 votes, according to the state`s unofficial toll.
Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell told CNN that counties were still tabulating the number of provisional ballots, which are cast by questionable voters but held aside for later determination of validity.
Blackwell said Ohio officials would spend 10 days determining whether the ballots were valid and awaiting absentee ballots mailed by November 2. Those would be counted from day 11, he said.
But it was not clear whether the Democrats would give in. While pledging to make sure all votes were counted, Edwards spoke only of carrying on the battle for at least "one more night."
Thousands of lawyers from both parties were ready to challenge close results after the longest and costliest campaign in US history, and the first presidential election since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Bush earlier appeared headed for a big night, on course to win the presidency, a majority of the popular vote for the first time and tighter Republican control of both houses of Congress.
Early exit polls showing a Kerry surge produced euphoria in the Democratic camp, but the mood shifted visibly as the first returns came in, and then more dramatically as television networks gave Florida, and apparently Ohio, to Bush.
Up to 120 million people cast ballots in the election, in which each party held onto the states it had won in the 2000 contest between Bush and Democrat Al Gore -- except for the Republican loss of New Hampshire and its four electors.
Turnout seemed to have approached a four-decade high, with long lines of voters reported across the country. Some queued for up to nine hours to cast ballots.
So intense was the interest that some polling centers in Ohio and Pennsylvania stayed open after their scheduled close to accommodate the huge throngs.
Some claims of irregularities surfaced in Florida, however, with several voters complaining they had received phone calls or flyers sending them to the wrong polling precincts.
The candidates left their political fate in the voters` hands Tuesday after eight months and a billion dollars of campaigning.
US voters also decided the composition of Congress, where Republicans increased their majority in the 100-member Senate and 435-seat House of Representatives.
Voters cast ballots in the first election in 30 years to be held with US troops fighting abroad, delivering their verdict after a heated debate over the 2003 invasion of Iraq and a question of who could keep America safer from terrorists.
Bush, 58, the born-again Christian son of ex-president George Bush, campaigned as a "war president" ready to take the United States into battle alone if necessary to safeguard the country.
The 60-year-old Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, took a more nuanced stand, preaching the need to repair alliances rent by the Iraq war and to reconstruct an international consensus on the global war against terrorism.
A running state-by-state tally of the Electoral College vote in the US presidential election, according to US network television projections.
The winner needs 270 of the 538 votes in the Electoral College to win. The number of Electoral College votes for each state is given in brackets:
Total
George W. Bush (Republican) - 254 votes - 28 states
John Kerry (Democrat) - 242 votes - 18 states, plus Washington DC

2004 2000

Alabama (9) - Bush - Bush: 56.47 percent of vote
Alaska (3) - Bush - Bush: 58.62
Arizona (10) - Bush - Bush: 50.95
Arkansas (6) - Bush - Bush: 51.31
California (55) - Kerry - Gore: 53.45
North Carolina (15) - Bush - Bush: 56.03
South Carolina (8) - Bush - Bush: 56.83
Colorado (9) - Bush - Bush: 50.75
Connecticut (7) - Kerry - Gore: 55.91
North Dakota (3) - Bush - Bush: 60.66
South Dakota (3) - Bush - Bush: 60.30
Delaware (3) - Kerry - Gore: 54.96
Washington DC (3) - Kerry - Gore: 85.16
Florida (27) - Bush - Bush: 48.85
Georgia (15) - Bush - Bush: 54.67
Hawaii (4) - Gore: 55.79
Idaho (4) - Bush - Bush: 67.17
Illinois (21) - Kerry - Gore: 54.60
Indiana (11) - Bush - Bush: 56.65
Iowa (7) - Gore: 48.54
Kansas (6) - Bush - Bush: 58.04
Kentucky (8) - Bush - Bush: 56.50
Louisiana (9) - Bush - Bush: 52.55
Maine (4-proportional) ) - Kerry - Gore: 49.09
Maryland (10) - Kerry - Gore: 56.57
Massachusetts (12) - Kerry - Gore: 59.80
Michigan (17) - Kerry - Gore: 51.28
Minnesota (10) - Kerry - Gore: 47.91
Mississippi (6) - Bush - Bush: 57.62
Missouri (11) - Bush - Bush: 50.42
Montana (3) - Bush - Bush: 58.44
Nebraska (5) - Bush - Bush: 62.25
Nevada (5) - Bush: 49.52
New Hampshire (4) - Kerry - Bush: 48.07
New Jersey (15) - Kerry - Gore: 56.13
New Mexico (5) - Gore: 47.91
New York (31) - Kerry - Gore: 60.21
Ohio (20) - Bush: 49.97
Oklahoma (7) - Bush - Bush: 60.31
Oregon (7) - Kerry - Gore: 46.96
Pennsylvania (21) - Kerry - Gore: 50.60
Rhode Island (4) - Kerry - Gore: 60.99
Tennessee (11) - Bush - Bush: 51.15
Texas (34) - Bush - Bush: 59.30
Utah (5) - Bush - Bush: 66.83
Vermont (3) - Kerry - Gore: 40.70
Virginia (13) - Bush - Bush: 52.47
West Virginia (5) - Bush - Bush: 51.92
Washington state (11) - Kerry - Gore: 50.13
Wisconsin (10) - Gore: 47.83
Wyoming (3) - Bush - Bush: 67.76

2000 result
Nationwide vote: Gore: 48.32 percent - Bush: 47.87 percent
Electoral College: Bush: 271 votes - Gore: 266 votes

11/03/2004 - 15:07 GMT - AFP