Washington: Ohio, the Midwestern State in the United States of America stands at a momentous point in history even as the race for the White House becomes increasingly a dead heat.

Ohio, whose 20 electoral votes would now undoubtedly play a deciding role in this Presidential election, which analysts still refer as 'too close to call'.

With 90 per cent of precincts reporting, President Bush was leading against Senator John Kerry by about 106,000 votes in Ohio, but thousands of provisional ballots have not been counted.

The Democrats refused to concede defeat in Ohio, saying with over 600,000 votes (provisional, military ballots and absentee ballots) at stake anything can happen.

"The vote count in Ohio has not been completed. There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio," according to a senior campaigner in the Kerry camp.

John Edwards who is the Democratic Vice-President candidate said, "We will fight for a every single vote".

As things stand now, if Bush wins Ohio it is almost certain that he retains the Presidency for a second term, because according to present trends he would end up with 269 seats, just one short of the required magic number of 270.

On the other hand if Kerry loses Ohio, and perhaps win all the other undeclared States, then he would stand at 269, again one short of 270.

According to television reports, around 10,000 lawyers have been roped in by both Republicans and Democrats to fight legal issues, which increasingly looks a certain possibility.