LIVE Trump's odds of winning the election are surging
Americans went to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to elect the country's first woman president, promising reforms based on stability, or hand power to a real-estate mogul known for proposing unorthodox, sometimes eccentric, cures for various problems plaguing the nation.
Whoever wins at least 270 out of a total of 538 electoral college votes will become the 45th president of the U.S. With about 40 million people having already cast their ballots in early voting, most media polls have shown Clinton holding slim leads, some within margins of error, over Trump.
According to the website 270towin.com, a win for Clinton in any of seven battleground states would be significant: Florida, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Mississippi, Iowa and Nevada. Since three are on the East Coast, the race could be effectively decided while the West is still voting.
The new president, set to be sworn in on Jan. 20, will take over at a time when the U.S. is grappling with the militant group Islamic State, an increasingly provocative North Korea and a host of problems to solve at home, including immigration reforms, job creation and economic inequalities.