The Americans were waiting for the final results of the US presidential election with jitters even 14 hours after the voting closed though results in the battle for the White House usually come within 4-5 hours of the end of the voting.
President Donald Trump and Democratic contestant Joe Biden, battling for presidency, were awaiting results in key battlegrounds up for grabs until 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday [8:00 pm Bangladesh time]. The voting closed on Tuesday evening.
There were seven states still left uncalled, including major prizes such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- meaning both Trump and Biden still have a path to victory.
US media outlets have projected wins for the Republican incumbent in 23 states including big prizes Florida and Texas, as well as Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio -- all states he won in 2016.
Joe Biden has captured 20 states including his home state Delaware and big prizes California and New York, as well as the US capital. The former vice-president has flipped one state won by Donald Trump in 2016 -- Arizona, in the southwest.
Until 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time [8:00 pm Bangladesh time], Biden bagged 238 electoral-college votes and Trump 213 out of the total of 538 votes. The minimum number of electoral-college votes required to win the polls is 270.
In popular vote, Biden secured 50.1 percent or 69,479,320 of the total vote counted while Trump bagged 48.3 percent or 67,069,982 votes.
According to the US Elections Project watchdog, more than 100 million Americans cast their ballots in advance of Tuesday's Election Day -- a record figure largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analysts say Biden will clearly come out victorious if the advance votes are counted.
According to them, Trump may move the court to stop the counting of the advance votes, but there is little chance that the court will give a verdict in his favour as 100 million votes matter greatly in the election.
The seven states where electoral votes are still up for grabs are Alaska (3), Georgia (16), Michigan (16), Nevada (6), North Carolina (15), Pennsylvania (20), and Wisconsin (10).
Of the states, Biden was leading over Trump in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin while Trump is ahead of his contestant in for others.
Voters in the US presidential election faced a public health crisis and a wounded economy but neither candidate emerged as the clear choice to handle both of those issues, according to AP VoteCast.
More voters - both nationwide and in key battlegrounds - said former Vice-President Joe Biden would be better able to handle the coronavirus pandemic, the top concern for about 4 in 10 voters.
But President Donald Trump edged out Biden on the question of who would be better to rebuild an economy hurt by nearly 11 million job losses and small businesses staring down a bleak winter. About 3 in 10 voters nationally ranked the economy as the most pressing issue.
