US polling stations have opened, with Democratic incumbent Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney locked in a tight presidential contest after a burst of last-minute campaigning.
Polls opened at 6am (2200 AEDT) on Tuesday, in battleground states New Hampshire and Virginia - either of which could decide the election - as well as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine and Vermont.
After a nearly two-year-long campaign season - the most expensive and one of the most negative on record - Americans will decide whether to re-elect Obama despite the sluggish economy or opt for the change promised by Romney.
Obama is seen as the slight favourite, with a razor-thin advantage in the latest national polls and - more importantly - a narrow lead in most of the swing states expected to decide the election.
In US elections the president is not chosen by the popular vote, but indirectly through the electoral college, in which states vote based on population, with a candidate needing 270 out of 538 electoral votes to win.
Tuesday's first votes were cast just after midnight in the tiny hamlet of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, which boasts the first ballots in US elections.
For the first time the vote was tied - with Obama and Romney each receiving five votes.
Early voting has been under way in some states for several weeks.
Tanner Tillotson, 24, who cast the first ballot at 12.00am on Tuesday (1600 AEDT) in the upscale Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, said he voted for President Obama.
"I hope it will inspire people to get out and make their voice heard," he said.
"I think (the result) is very indicative, that this is the first time in Dixville Notch's history that there is a tie. We're still a very divided nation and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the country is."
The tiny New Hampshire town, about 30km from the Canadian border, boasts the first vote in US elections, but is seen as more of a curiosity than a national bellwether.
In Hart's Location, Obama won with 23 votes, Romney received nine and Libertarian Gary Johnson received one vote. Thirty-three votes were cast in 5 minutes, 42 seconds.
The towns have been enjoying their first-vote status since 1948 and it's a matter of pride to get everyone to the polls.
Hart's Location Selectman Mark Dindorf says you could call it a friendly competition to see who gets their votes tallied first, although he says Hart's Location is a town and Dixville Notch is a precinct.
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