U.S. elections kick off with first polls opening in Vermon

First polling stations opened in the U.S. state of Vermont, kicking off the in-person voting in U.S. elections where incumbent President Donald Trump is in a tight race with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

In addition, all 435 seats of the House of Representative are up for grabs and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate.

The U.S. Elections Project estimates that nearly 98 million Americans have voted early, a number that represents more than 71 per cent of all votes cast in 2016.

More than 63 million Americans are estimated to have cast their ballot by mail.

On Monday, many of the final polls rolled in and showed the close race between Trump and Biden has further tightened nationally and in battleground states such as Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin.