Washington/Chicago  - Hundreds of US voters waited patiently in serpentine queues Tuesday to vote in the country's historic election. Many had started lining up before dawn, some braved pouring rain to cast their ballot.

Officials were prepared for an unprecedented turnout as voters delivered their verdict on Democrat Barack Obama, 47, and his Republican rival John McCain, 72, after the longest and most expensive campaign in US history.

Chicago - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama returned to Chicago, the city where his rise to prominence began, Tuesday and cast his vote at 8:45 am (1345 GMT) at the Shoesmith School gymnasium.

Obama arrived at the polling station with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Natasha.

The Democratic candidate took his time, pausing to explain the process to his daughters at the booth, and prompting television commentators to joke: "Is he undecided?"

Obama, 47, who would be the first African American president in US history if elected, was the strong favourite heading into Tuesday's vote.

Chicago/Washington - US presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain planned one final race across the country on Monday as state officials braced for record turnout in Tuesday's general election.

As Chicago prepared for a throng of 1 million people at a public park in anticipation of Democrat Obama's victory Tuesday, Republicans were wishing them bad weather and a surprise electoral victory for the underdog McCain.

Chicago/Washington - US presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain planned one final race across the country on Monday as state officials braced for record turnout in Tuesday's general election.

As Chicago prepared for a throng of 1 million people at a public park in anticipation of Democrat Obama's victory Tuesday, Republicans were wishing them bad weather and a surprise electoral victory for the underdog McCain.

Chicago - Strangers chat about politics on the train and buttons peer out from coats with the smiling face of Chicago's favourite son, Barack Obama, as the city is gripped with excitement about the looming election.

But Chicago, population 2.7 million, is not just waiting for Tuesday night to learn whether the US senator from Illinois, who got his political start on the city's South Side, will become the first African-American president.

Not relying on polls that show Obama ahead of Republican opponent John McCain, Chicagoans instead gathered by the thousands at phone banks across the city, where they hoped to get out the vote in key swing states that will likely decide the next president.

Responding to the well-wishes, prayers and neighborhood vigils, the Hudson family will hold an open community memorial in memory for actor Jennifer Hudson's slain mother, brother and nephew at Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church on 2nd November at 4:00 p. m. Hudson's aunt and owner of Chicago's Hudson Funeral Home, who is handling both the public and private services arrangements, said the service will be preceded by an hour-long private service at the church.