Turnout at 36-year high as voters queue for hours

Turnout at the polls hit a 36-year high with people queuing for up to eight hours to cast their votes.

A multi-million campaign by both parties to get their supporters out paid off in spectacular style amid indications that up to 120 million Americans - nearly 70 per cent of the electorate - went to ballot boxes.

The turnout is thought to be the highest since 1968. In the crucial swing state Ohio, thousands were queuing when the polls closed. All of those in line before the deadline have the right to cast a vote - leading to a delay in the count. Officials in some states, including Oregon and Minnesota, said as many as 75 per cent of the electorate had turned out.

Experts predicted a high turnout would benefit Democrats because of the party's youth support, among which voter apathy is traditionally highest. But a phone and door-step campaign by Republicans appeared to have evened out the effect.