President Bush is expected to make a statement later
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Democratic challenger John Kerry has admitted defeat in the US election, giving President George W Bush a second term in office.
The Associated Press news agency reported that Mr Kerry had already telephoned President Bush.
He will make a formal statement at 1800 GMT, and this will be followed by a statement from the president.
The concession comes as final results are awaited in the key state of Ohio, which holds the key to victory.
Current projections give Mr Bush 254 Electoral College votes and Senator Kerry 252. The winner needs a win in Ohio - carrying 20 votes - to push him to the 270 votes needed for victory.
The counted votes in Ohio give Mr Bush a lead of 136,221.
The delay in declaring the state a win for Mr Bush came about because the Democrats said a large number of ballots remained uncounted.
White House chief of staff Andrew Card said Mr Bush had postponed making a victory speech, to give Senator Kerry "time to reflect".
Number-crunching
The Democrats had argued there were a substantial number of uncounted absentee and provisional ballots that could still clinch it for Mr Kerry.
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PROJECTED BUSH WINS
Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Colorado and Nevada.
Source: Associated Press
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Latest figures show that, with 87 of the 88 counties reporting, there are 147,570 provisional ballots as well as an unspecified number of absentee ballots.
Provisional ballots are votes that have been cast in cases where there is some doubt about the right of a person to actually vote. They will not be counted until it is determined which were legitimate - a process that officials said will take 10 days.
Votes are too close to call in two other states, but neither will affect the final outcome.
In Iowa, problems with vote-counting machines in two counties will delay results for at least one day.
New Mexico is also undeclared for either candidate.
Projections suggest the Republicans will strengthen their majorities in both houses of Congress.
Daschle defeated
One third of seats in the Senate and the whole of the House of Representatives are at stake.
Republicans look set to tighten their grip on the Senate, defeating Democratic leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota and capturing a string of seats across the South.
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PROJECTED KERRY WINS
Minnesota, Vermont, Delaware, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, California, Washington, New Hampshire, Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin and Hawaii.
Source: Associated Press
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Mr Daschle would be the first party leader to lose a race for re-election in more than 50 years.
Projections put turnout in the presidential election at more than 115 million voters -10 million more than in 2000.
The projected vote showed Mr Bush leading Mr Kerry nationwide by 3.5m votes.
Chief of staff Andrew Card said he believed Mr Bush had won with "more votes than any candidate in history".
"We are convinced that President Bush has won re-election with at least 286 electoral college votes," he said.
The BBC's Nick Childs, in Washington, said the White House move was a clear attempt to put pressure on Senator Kerry to concede.
Two US television networks - NBC and Fox - have called Ohio for President Bush, but Mr Kerry's campaign has responded defiantly.
Mr Kerry's running mate John Edwards, told supporters in Boston: "John Kerry and I made a promise to the US people that in this election every vote would count and every vote would be counted.
"Tonight we are keeping our word and we will fight for every vote."
Mr Kerry is at his home in Boston while Mr Bush is at the White House.
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Printable version
In this election, President Bush received more votes than any presidential candidate in our nation's history
BBC TV special
