US Election Day begins as polls open in New York, New Jersey, Virginia

Washington, Nov 03: The much-anticipated presidential elections in the United States formally began on Tuesday as poling underway in New York, New Jersey and Virginia early Tuesday, as President Donald Trump seeks to beat forecasts and defeat challenger Joe Biden.

But the first polling stations to open in the country were in two tiny New Hampshire communities that vote for president just after the stroke of midnight on Election Day have cast their ballots, with one of them marking 60 years since the tradition began.

The results in Dixville Notch, near the Canadian border, were a sweep for former Vice President Joe Biden who won the town''s five votes. In Millsfield, 12 miles (20 kilometers) to the south, President Donald Trump won 16 votes to Biden''s five.

According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Biden leads Trump by 6.7 percentage points nationally, but only by 2.8 percentage points in top battleground states, including Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

The 2020 US elections, including presidential and congressional races, come as the country is still reeling from the pandemic with 9,284,261 cases and 231,507 deaths, both tallies are currently the highest in the world.