With five percent of the nation's precincts reporting, Democratic candidate John Kerry has won 3,609,099 votes, or 44 percent, while George W. Bush has claimed 4,586,849 votes, or 56 percent, showed the latest nationwide election returns reported by the Associated Press.

According to the tally, Kerry has won 77 electoral votes from nine states, including the District of Columbia, compared with 81 electoral votes from eight states for Bush. To win the presidency,270 of the 538 electoral votes are needed.