With counting under way in the US presidential election the only thing certain was that it would be a long night, and possibly a long day, before major battleground states finished counting. Conor O'Clery,North America Editor, reports from New York.
Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry held a lead in exit polls, giving the Democratic camp an early surge of optimism.
But, after polls closed in eastern, southern and some mid-western states by 1 a.m. Irish time, President George W. Bush was projected ahead in electoral college votes but the key battleground states of Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania were too close to call.
Mr Kerry was projected to win nine states with 77 electoral college votes and Mr Bush eleven states with 108 electoral votes.
There were few surprises but Mr Kerry handily won New Jersey with its 15 votes which the Republicans hoped to capture.
States carried by Mr Bush included Georgia, South and North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana and Virginia. Kerry took the New England states with New Hampshire still in play and also won Illinois with its 21 votes.
Polls stayed open in many cases after they were due to close to allow people waoiting in long queues to vote. This complicated the counting process and delayed results.
Exit Polls earlier showed Mr Kerry performing well against Mr Bush.
Nationally Mr Kerry had a three-point lead in the exit polls, but analysts cautioned that in 2000 Democrat Al Gore's lead in some exit polls evaporated when the counting got under way.