WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- President Bush led in projected electoral votes in Tuesday's election -- with all eyes on the key state of Ohio.
Fox News and NBC projected Bush won Ohio's 20 electoral votes -- while CNN, CBS and ABC were waiting for more information.
Fox News and NBC projected Bush within one electoral vote of winning the election, at 269. Fox had Kerry with 238 while NBC projected him at 211 electoral votes.
CNN projected Bush leading 249 to 242, projecting Kerry had won Michigan (17 electoral votes), Minnesota (10) and Hawaii (4).
CBS had Bush leading 249 to 238 and ABC had Bush ahead 249 to 225.
To be elected, a candidate must win 270 out of 538 electoral votes from the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The Democrats said they were still hopeful of victory.
"We will fight for every vote," said Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards.
With 95 percent of the precincts reporting in Ohio, Bush led Democrat John Kerry by a margin of 51 to 48 percent -- a margin of about 155,000 votes.
CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin said as many as 600,000 ballots could still be outstanding in Ohio, including provisional ballots -- making the state too close to call.
Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that as many as 120,000 provisional ballots, used when a voter cannot use a regular ballot, were outstanding. A ruling is then made on whether each provisional ballot is valid.
Blackwell said the provisional ballots would not be examined until 11 days after the election.
CNN said because of a delay in opening absentee ballots and broken equipment, a final count in Iowa would be delayed until at least Wednesday. Bush was leading Kerry by 51 to 49 percent, with 94 percent of precincts counted.
The key swing state of Florida, with 27 electoral votes, was projected to go to Bush. Kerry was projected as the winner in Pennsylvania, with 21 electoral votes.
Turnout nationwide was heavy, with CNN estimating it at 115 million to 120 million voters.
