Voting has begun in the so-called Super Tuesday primaries in which candidates vying to secure their party’s nomination for the November US presidential election face their biggest test yet.
The first polls opened in Virginia at 6am local time (11am Irish time) and voters in 12 states will cast their votes for candidates on Tuesday. The states involved include Vermont in the east to Texas and Georgia in the south.
Based on the results of the four states which have already voted Donald Trump leads the Republican field and Hillary Clinton is in front of the Democratic candidates.
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With Mr Trump’s position looking increasingly strong following victories in three of four early primary contests, senior Republicans are now facing a decision on whether to try and undermine or join his populist bandwagon.
On Monday one national CNN opinion poll of Republican voters put him at 49 per cent, more than all his opponents combined.
The New York billionaire well-placed in all 12 primaries in play on Tuesday, with the exception of Texas, where Ted Cruz is expected to win on his home turf.
Although New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Alabama senator Jeff Sessions have endorsed him in recent days, many other governors and senators are remaining silent or actively denouncing him as unfit for the presidency or to take on Democrat Hillary Clinton.
For Mrs Clinton, she is hoping to build on her weekend victory in South Carolina, where she polled heavily among African-Americans as she bids to revive her campaign after a bruising defeat in New Hampshire to Bernie Sanders.
America is due to elect a successor to Barack Obama, a Democratic president on November 8th. Mr Obama is standing down after two terms in office during which Republicans have taken control of both houses of Congress.