Pennsylvania goes to Obama

1.15 am: Pennsylvania, the state that John McCain had to win if he was to have any chance of resisting the Barack Obama landslide predicted by the polls, has been called for the Democrats, effectively ending the Arizona senator's chances of victory tonight.

New Hampshire, another potential target, has also gone for Obama, as well as a raft of other states including Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maine. At 1.15am, the Illinois senator was leading the race for electoral college votes by 103 to 34. The winner's target is 270 of the 538 electoral votes.

Battleground states Indiana, Florida and Ohio remain too close for the networks to call, but exit poll figures suggest that Obama is performing strongly across the country.

FIRST POSTED NOVEMBER 5, 2008