Obama takes crucial Pennsylvania: Exit polls

Barack Obama has won Pennsylvania in an early sign that he will become the first black president of the United States, exit polls said today.

The state was seen as a must-win for his Republican rival John McCain, who campaigned aggressively in the Democratically-leaning state.

But Mr Obama won the state, and its 21 electoral votes, exit polls used by ABC and Fox News showed.

It was a significant blow for his rival’s campaign in the 21-month €1.8bn race for the White House.

The results took Mr Obama's total to 98 electoral votes, compared with 34 for Mr McCain, as they both aim for the 270 needed to win the presidency.

Pennsylvania went into the election with more than 8.7 million registered voters, a record number.

The increase was primarily caused by Democrats, and the Democratic Party had more than a million more registered voters in the state than the Republicans.

On the campaign trail, Mr Obama told the state’s workers, and its unemployed, that Republicans had abandoned them and promised to invest in technologies that would create jobs and cut middle-class taxes to help families pay their bills.

Elsewhere, Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia all backed Mr Obama as expected, projections showed.

The 47-year-old Illinois senator also won three of Maine’s four electoral votes, according to projections. It is one of two states which can split its allocated votes between the two candidates.

Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee and South Carolina all backed Mr McCain, as expected.

A national CNN exit poll showed the US economy was the number one issue for 62% of voters, followed by the Iraq war (10%), terrorism and healthcare (both 9%) and energy policy (7%).

Earlier, in keeping with tradition, voting began at the stroke of midnight in a handful of remote towns in the north-eastern state of New Hampshire.

The residents of Dixville Notch have been meeting in the town’s ballot room at midnight each election day since 1960.

Mr Obama won the town’s poll by 15 votes to six for Mr McCain – a landslide victory after more than 40 years of Republican loyalty.