Obama casts his vote

Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama on Tuesday cast his ballot in his home city of Chicago, with his wife and young daughters by his side. On an historic day across the United States which could see Mr Obama elected the first black US president, the Hawaii-born Illinois Senator was greeted at a polling station in a school gymnasium by dozens of reporters and photographers. Mr Obama, who is leading the Republican John McCain in national polls, was joined by his wife, Michelle, and his young daughters Malia and Sasha.

He showed Malia, 10, his ballot and smiled as he cast his vote. Mr Obama's running mate Joe Biden turned out at the polls in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware with his 91-year-old mother, and wife, Jill, to vote. Meanwhile Hillary Clinton, who fought a long, hard battle with Mr Obama in the Democratic primaries as she sought to become the first woman US president, voted in Chappaqua, New York. She and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, have a home in the town in New York, which the former first lady represents in the Senate.

Mr McCain had yet to cast his ballot, and his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, was to fly back to her home state to vote before heading to McCain's home state of Arizona to watch the results come in. *AFP