Trump has again raised the issue of electoral fraud, telling Fox News "in many ways it really is a rigged system”.

"We’re going to see how things play out today,” he said.  

US Arizona senator John McCain has called upon citizens to vote. McCain  backed Trump early on in the election but came out against him last month. 

A parrot heading into a polling station in Venice Beach... A half-naked cowboy defending Trump against women protesters outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York... Some of the more unusual images of election day in America.  

Image source, Getty

Image source, Getty Images

Clinton's left-wing primaries rival Bernie Sanders has called for voters to defeat Trump "badly". The Vermont senator said earlier it was time to "tell Donald Trump, the billionaire class and huge corporations that they are going to pay their fair share". 

Radio 4 PM

This year's electorate is more ethnically diverse than the one that elected Barack Obama, the Pew Research Center reports, external.

Due to an ageing white population and growing numbers of Latino and Asian people in particular, nearly a third of voters in this election are from a racial or ethnic minority.

The findings were published back in February, with the author saying the fastest-growing demographic groups were also the least likely to go out and vote.

That said, sites and commentators including Politico are saying today that a surge in the numbers of Latino Americans voting is likely to be bad news for Trump, external. 

Image source, Associated Press

Some Twitter users have been having fun at the sight of Trump apparently glancing towards his wife's ballot paper as they voted in New York. 

BBC Newsnight

BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis has this advice: 

"The good news about a US election night - or the disappointing news if you're hardcore - is that they are normally pretty fast.

If there is a decisive victory we should know the result by around 04:00 GMT (23:00 EST)."

Read Emily Maitlis' blog here. 

The Trump campaign is suing a county registrar in Nevada for keeping polling stations open late on an early voting day. 

It accuses Joe P Gloria, the Clark County registrar of voters, of keeping polling locations open "two hours beyond the designated closing time".

In response, county spokesman Dan Kulin told the broadcaster CNN that only voters already in line at closing time had been allowed to stay and vote.

Trump's lawyers are also asking for the early voting ballots to be kept separate from other votes, CNN adds.

Image source, Clark County Courts

You do have 170 seconds, don't you? Watch our recap of the entire race - it's quite a ride!

Hopeful Clinton supporters are sharing a Brooklyn street sign pointing to "Clinton Street". That said, the sign for "President Street" points in the opposite direction. It will be many hours yet before we know which way America is really going. 

A San Francisco newspaper, the East Bay Times, says this election is "a battle for America's soul". It is backing Clinton but says Trump could win "if enough good citizens stay home" instead of voting.

"Yes, both candidates are flawed," it says.

"But in the sheer scale of those flaws, there is no comparison.", external

Clinton visited San Francisco for a fundraiser in mid-October - here's a picture of the crowd.

Image source, Reuters

The Las Vegas Review-Journal endorsed Trump last month. It was one of the few newspapers to do so - many have plumped for Clinton instead.

The Review-Journal re-iterates its call in an editorial, external, saying that in these "turbulent times", Trump "brings a corporate sensibility and a steadfast determination". The editorial praises his wish to lower taxes, and worries that under a Clinton presidency the Second Amendment right to bear arms might be done away with.

It also notes that she has been on a public payroll for much of her adult life.

"Mr Trump represents neither the danger his critics claim nor the magic elixir many of his supporters crave," the paper says.

"But he promises to be a source of disruption and discomfort to the privileged, back-scratching political elites for whom the nation’s strength and solvency have become subservient to power’s pursuit and preservation."

Here's a picture of the delighted crowd at a Trump rally in Las Vegas last week.

Image source, Getty Images

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said a victory for Hillary Clinton would be a step toward gender balance among world leaders, AP reports. 

 "Then we'd come a little bit closer to a balance of women and men in leading positions,'' Germany's first female chancellor said, speaking in Berlin alongside Erna Solberg, who is Norway's second female prime minister. 

Ms Solberg said it might be "inspiring for many young women to see politics not just as something that belongs to men''.

"There isn't some kind of global girlfriends network that wants to rule the world,'' she added.

Image source, AFP

Young supporters for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have been making a final push for votes in the US presidential election.

They are calling voters in swing states like Iowa, hoping their efforts can get their candidates over the line.

Some say celebrity endorsements are important to young people; others say it's about keeping the other side's candidate out.

Read more about the young campaigners here.

For both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Supreme Court is a key issue. Rajini Vaidyanathan explains.

The Washington Post, which endorsed Clinton, has published a surprisingly-headlined opinion piece: Will there be more candidates like Donald Trump? We should hope so., external

In it, Chris Buskirk argues that future presidential candidates should learn the following positive attributes from Trump:

• authenticity over scripted campaigns
• listening to voters, instead of elites or his own party
• decisiveness and credibility on immigration

But Mr Buskirk does reject other parts of Trump's style:

• braggadocio
• flippancy
• crude moments

He's even less-than-complimentary about the bright red ties.

"Smart politicians should take the best and leave the rest behind," is the takeaway message from Mr Buskirk's piece.

One election day queue of a different kind could be seen in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, where people turned out to pay tribute to Susan B Anthony (1820-1906), who championed votes for women. 

Some people left yellow roses, a symbol of the women's suffrage movement, while her tombstone became covered in stickers reading "I voted" or "I voted today". 

More than a century after Anthony's death, the US may be about to elect its first female president in the form of Hillary Clinton.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Colorado, a swing state which voted for previous winners Barack Obama and George W Bush, has polled as a win for Hillary Clinton this time around. 

But analysis from one modelling company suggests she could have a narrower lead in the state than was widely thought - 46.3% to Donald Trump's 43.6%.

US President Barack Obama has tweeted an appeal to get as many voters as possible to turn out. "Progress is on the ballot," he wrote.