Republican front runner Donald Trump appears to have scored an early victory on Super Tuesday as US media projected he would win the Georgia primary.
The results in two other states Vermont and Virginia, where voting has also ended, are too close to call, according to reports.
Billionaire businessman Mr Trump is competing for the Republican nomination in the White House race against Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Voting has been taking place across the United States on Super Tuesday, where 12 states have gone to the polls.
Republicans have been casting their votes in 11 states, with 595 delegates up for grabs.
Mr Trump, who before Super Tuesday was on 82 delegates, will be looking to extend his lead over his rivals and move closer to a November presidential election showdown, possibly against Hillary Clinton.
Super Tuesday's vote was critical for the two leading Republicans vying to be Trump's main challenger.
They are conservative Mr Cruz, who won in Iowa and was on 17 delegates before Tuesday, and Mr Rubio, who has become the favourite of much of the Republican establishment, and was on 16 delegates.
Mr Trump has been a highly controversial candidate in the campaign after his anti-immigration plan to build a wall along the Mexican border, and also to ban Muslims from entering the US.
Republicans fear he will damage their prospects of recapturing the White House after Barack Obama's two terms.
Even before the results started flowing in, Mr Trump was calling for Mr Rubio to quit the race if he didn't win anywhere on Tuesday.
"He has to get out," he told Fox News. "He hasn't won anything."
Democrats have also been having their say in 11 states with 865 delegates allocated - more than a third of the 2,383 delegates required for the Democratic nomination.
The party's front runner Mrs Clinton is set to win in Georgia and Virginia, according to US media, while her rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is expected to triumph in his home state.
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