Photo: RYAN COLLERD/AFP
The vote count is underway across the country but already the pundits have projected former president Donald Trump as winner in 24 states while Vice President Kamala Harris has earned the nod in 14, according to CNN.
Around 5.45pm NZ time CNN projected Trump would win in North Carolina - one of the seven key races. Less than an hour later it projected he would also take a second battleground state - Georgia.
Meanwhile, Harris is the projected winner of California which adds 54 electoral votes to her tally.
Harris is hoping to become the first woman elected president, while Trump is vying to become only the second former president to win a non-consecutive second term.
Remember the winning candidate must earn at least 270 votes in the Electoral College to move into the White House.
The election is expected to come down to a handful of battleground states - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In the list below we have key race alongside each of those states. Here's how it stands mid-afternoon on Wednesday.
- Alabama - Trump projected winner 9 electoral votes
- Alaska - no call so far 3 electoral votes
- Arizona - no call so far 11 electoral votes - key race
- Arkansas - Trump projected winner 6 electoral votes
- California - Harris projected winner 54 electoral votes
- Colorado - Harris projected winner 10 electoral votes
- Connecticut - no call so far 7 electoral votes
- Delaware - Harris projected winner 3 electoral votes
- District of Columbia - Harris projected winner 3 electoral votes
- Florida - Trump projected winner 30 electoral votes
- Georgia - Trump projected winner 16 electoral votes - key race
- Hawaii - Harris projected winner 4 electoral votes
- Idaho - Trump projected winner 4 electoral votes
- Illinois - Harris projected winner 19 electoral votes
- Indiana - Trump projected winner 11 electoral votes
- Iowa - Trump projected winner 6 electoral votes
- Kansas - Trump projected winner 6 electoral votes
- Kentucky - Trump projected winner 8 electoral votes
- Lousiana - Trump projected winner 8 electoral votes
- Maine - no call so far - 4 electoral votes (two for the statewide winner, one each to the winner of the state's two congressional districts)
- Maryland - Harris projected winner 10 electoral votes
- Massachusetts - Harris projected winner 11 electoral votes
- Michigan - no call so far 15 electoral votes - key race
- Minnesota - no call so far 10 electoral votes - key race
- Mississippi - Trump projected winner 6 electoral votes
- Missouri - Trump projected winner 10 electoral votes
- Montana - Trump projected winner 4 electoral votes
- Nebraska - Trump will win at least three of 5 electoral votes ( two of five electoral votes go to the winner of the statewide vote and one electoral vote goes to the winner in each of the state's three congressional districts)
- Nevada - no call so far 6 electoral votes - key race
- New Hampshire - no call so far 4 electoral votes
- New Jersey - no call so far 14 electoral votes
- New Mexico - no call so far 5 electoral votes
- New York - Harris projected winner 28 electoral votes
- North Carolina - Trump projected winner 16 electoral votes - key race
- North Dakota - Trump projected winner 3 electoral votes
- Ohio - Trump projected winner 17 electoral votes
- Oklahoma - Trump projected winner 7 electoral votes
- Oregon - Harris projected winner 8 electoral votes
- Pennsylvania - no call so far 19 electoral votes
- Rhode Island - Harris projected winner 4 electoral votes
- South Carolina - Trump projected winner 9 electoral votes
- South Dakota - Trump projected winner 3 electoral votes
- Tennessee - Trump projected winner 11 electoral votes
- Texas - Trump projected winner 40 electoral votes
- Utah - Trump projected winner 6 electoral votes
- Vermont - Harris projected winner 3 electoral votes
- Virginia - Harris projected winner 13 electoral votes
- Washington - Harris projected winner 12 electoral votes
- West Virginia - Trump projected winner 4 electoral votes
- Wisconsin - no call so far 10 electoral votes - key race
- Wyoming - Trump projected winner 3 electoral votes
-CNN /RNZ