Will US re-elect first black president or vote for Mormon?

The U.S. presidential election on Tuesday was scheduled to decide the leader of the world`s largest economy over the next four years, and was set to mark either the first re-election of a black president or the first election of a Mormon in the White House.

A third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives were also up for grabs on Election Day.

Voting began at midnight Eastern Standard Time (2 p.m. in Korea) and will end at 1 a.m. (Wednesday 3 p.m. in Korea) in Alaska.

The voting results of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, have been the first to come out in the U.S. since 1960. This time, the vote ended in a draw as 10 ballots were evenly divided between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney at five.

Among the 10 voters were two Democrats, three Republicans and five independents. In the 2008 election, Obama beat Republican contender John McCain, 15-6.

According to six polls released on the eve of the election, both Obama and Romney had leads in two polls each and received the same approval rates in the other two. With Obama expected to secure more votes from the Electoral College as well as swing states, the president is expected to win with a slight margin.

The delay in vote counting might lead to legal action if Romney leads in popular votes and Obama is ahead in electoral votes.

The president and his Republican challenger continued their campaigns into Election Day. Romney used the slogan “A Better Future” while Obama re-branded his campaign “Forward.” Both candidates pledged victory in their final campaign speeches Monday.

yhchoi65@donga.com