KEY POINTS:
I've just come from a polling booth in upper Manhattan, one that's in a working class neighbourhood known for its immigrant population.
I think it's great how open Americans are about how they voted. People exiting the polling station were only too willing to talk about what they'd
done behind the black plastic screen. They were proud of it. And happy to give a good-natured opinion on why their chosen candidate was the best one.
There was a variety of votes cast among the people I talked to. In the particular neighbourhood it was hard to find a Republican, although I did find one - more about him later.
One white, older man, told me he voted for Barack Obama because the country needed a big change. He said he didn't want a co-presidency, and was worried that with Hillary Clinton you actually got "Billary". He didn't like Clinton as New York senator either, "I don't like her, period."
James Shubinski, a 40-year-old man of mixed American-Indian and Eastern European ethnicities, said he too had voted for Obama.
The main reason? One word. "Inspiration." Shubinski said he would have been happy with either Obama or Clinton, that he thought Clinton was terrific and would do a good job. But: "I feel like Obama, while he might be less experienced than Hillary on some levels, he would be a fresh start. I think the country needs a lot of healing and we need to restore faith in America around the world."
It wasn't all for Obama at the poll. A white woman who gave her name only as Naomi said she had voted for Clinton. Naomi is in her 50s and works three jobs. She said she found the voting decision "agonising", and only made up her mind two days ago. In the end the big factor for her was the fact that Clinton is a woman. "I think she's worked towards it, and she's ready for it. I grew up when abortion and women's rights really defined the whole period of time. The truest way to be true to myself is by voting for a woman."
The reasons people had for voting the way they did echoed exactly what all the debate has been about for the past few weeks. The questions being pushed around in the media have focused on whether Clinton will get female votes just because she's a woman. And whether Obama would win votes because he's fresh and voters feel they really want a big change. The answer to both looks like being yes, if this extremely small group is anything to go by.
Now to the lone Republican voter. As myself and a couple of other journalists were leaving the polling station we walked past a bus, and in it were two city bus drivers waiting for their next route to begin. Both were black males, probably in their 30s.
One called out "go Obama" as we walked past, so we stopped to chat to him. He said he'd voted for Obama and was convinced his favourite candidate would do a good job. The other guy in the bus stayed quiet for a while but when I asked him who he had voted for, he said "McCain". He grinned, and shared a bit of banter with his driver friend, the Obama backer.
John McCain is the "American way", he said, McCain is a hero. The man then appeared annoyed that Obama was being painted as a black candidate. "He's not a black President, he wasn't raised by blacks," he said. So he didn't vote on race, and when it came down to it he viewed McCain as the only real American hero in the race. "That's why I voted for him."
Polls start closing in some states at 1pm NZ time, from then on, different states will begin reporting.
