Déjà vu: US elections go down to the wire

FOUR years ago, after a bitterly-fought election campaign that led to 36 days of uncertainty, George W Bush was declared US President by the tiny winning margin of 572 votes.

Four years later, as America goes to the polls today, all the signs are that history may well repeat itself.

Last night, in the wake of a flurry of late opinion polls, strategists for both the Democratic and Republican Parties were saying the outcome of ten key States, mostly in the midwest, were too close to call.