President George W Bush will in all probability take an early lead in the race for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the 2004 Presidential election if only because the first lot of results will be from states he is strong in.
Given that three different time zones apply in the US, given too that there is a four-hour time difference between Eastern Time and Pacific Time, polls will close, and results will begin coming in from some areas, while polling is still under way in others.
Confused? This guide to poll closing times serves as a handy reference.
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Polls will close in six states Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont -- at 7 pm ET, and results will begin coming in almost immediately.
These states are heavily skewed in favor of the incumbent. Indiana, with 11 EC votes, and Kentucky, with 8 EC votes, are both considered safe for Bush. Georgia (15 EC votes) and South Carolina (8 EC votes) are strong Bush states. And Virginia (13 votes) is per all available polling leaning towards Bush.
Of these six, the only one that favors Kerry is Vermont, home state of Governor Howard Dean which has just three EC votes.
Thus, when results begin to come in starting at around 7 pm ET stand by for Bush to surge into an early lead that could be as emphatic as 55-3; stand by too for Kerry to catch up as strongly blue states come into play later in the night.
The first real indication of which way the race is tilting will come when polling ends in Ohio, at 7.30 pm ET. With 20 EC votes in play, this is one of three key states that, pundits say, could decide the eventual winner.
