Americans flooded to the polling stations as election day finally dawned across the United States today, with the final campaign polls suggesting that the Democrat Barack Obama was on the brink of an historic White House victory.

Long, snaking lines formed shortly after dawn outside voting centres in the battleground state of Virginia and other eastern states. Officials in New York City said that in some neighbourhoods people began queueing up at 4 am – two hours before voting began.

But there could have been few crowds of voters in a more excitable mood than those in Chicago's Altgeld Gardens housing project, built to house black GIs returning home after the Second World War and the place where Mr Obama began his political career in the 1980s.

"Obama, that's my guy!" said Laverne Flowers, 62, as she queued up to cast her ballot at the Ira F Aldridge Elementary School. "I think we're going to make some history here," Albert Allen, a 48-year-old security guard, added. "This is a special day."

The high turnout is good news for Mr Obama, who is hoping that a record number of Americans will respond to his message of change and elect him as the country's first black president.

But his opponent, the Republican senator John McCain, embraced the underdog role and vowed to fight for every last vote. "The pundits have written us off like they have before," the Vietnam veteran told supporters in Roswell, New Mexico, yesterday. "They may not know it, but the Mac is back. We’re gonna win this election."

A record 29 million voters have already cast their ballots and pollsters say the final figure should exceed 130 million. The high turnout was already causing technical problems this morning as polling stations - especially in black areas - struggled to cope with demand.

Mr Obama was also among the early voters in Chicago, casting his ballot in a school gymnasium alongside his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia. "The journey ends, but voting with my daughters, that was a big deal," the 47-year-old told reporters.

The longest and, at a billion dollars, costliest presidential battle ended with Mr Obama the hot favourite. A USA Today/Gallup poll published yesterday gave him an 11-point lead over Mr McCain, by 53-42 per cent.

Other polls gave him a significant lead in the critical swing states of Ohio and Pennsylvania and a slight advantage over Mr MrCain in Florida, which has 27 electoral college votes on offer.

Victory in any one of those states would be enough to push him over the 270-vote threshold and into the White House but Karl Rove, the Republican strategist credited with masterminding George W Bush's two victories, predicted that the Democrat could win all three. His analysis suggested an Obama victory by 338 votes to 200, the biggest margin since Bill Clinton's second victory in 1996.

In the eye of the worst financial storm since the 1930s and with American troops embroiled in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, both candidates have vowed to restore the frayed self-confidence of the world’s only remaining superpower. The Democrats are also targeting big gains in the Senate and House of Representatives, which would see a major political realignment on Capitol Hill.

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