10 days to get final result

John Kerry's last hope of reaching the White House may rest on 175,000 provisional ballots still to be counted in Ohio.

The votes - not due to be counted for another 10 days - could prove as controversial as Florida's "hanging chads" which gripped the world four years ago.

Provisional ballots allow voters whose eligibility is in doubt to register their choice at polling stations.

State officials will spend the next 10 days investigating whether each individual is eligible. Votes deemed legitimate will then be added to the Bush and Kerry totals as appropriate.

The figures are still stacked heavily against the Kerry camp. With 99 per cent of Ohio precincts reporting results, Mr Bush was leading Mr Kerry by 144,315 votes.

If the margin remains the same with all regular votes counted, Mr Kerry would need to win a huge proportion of provisional ballots to close the gap and take the state's 20 electoral college votes. Democrats believe he will win most as registration abuses may have disproportionately disenfranchised black voters - who overwhelmingly support Mr Kerry.

Meanwhile a smaller number of votes, cast by Ohio citizens living abroad, are still arriving at the state's election headquarters. They are valid as long as they are postmarked before or on polling day.

Ohio's secretary of state, Ken Blackwell, a Republican, advised the watching world: "Just take a deep breath and relax."