Four more years for Barack Obama in White House

US President Barack Obama has been re-elected to a second term on Wednesday, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney in a tough electoral fight.

US President Barack Obama gives victory speech in Chicago, Illinois, on Wednesday after his...

The president's win in the crucial battleground of Ohio, coupled with subsequent victories in both Iowa and Oregon, put him over the required 270 electoral votes. He maintained dominance in solid Democratic states and won a number of swing states. Along with Obama, his running mate Joe Biden was also elected for vice presidency for the second term.

Romney won North Carolina and Indiana, two states Obama won in 2008, as well as the solid Republican states, but he was unable to win in Ohio or other states needed to breach the 270 threshold.

Under the US constitution, each state is given a number of electoral votes in rough proportion to its population. The candidate who wins 270 electoral votes - by prevailing in the mostly winner-take-all state contests - becomes president.

Also on Tuesday's ballot were 11 state governorships, a third of the seats in the 100-member US Senate and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

Republicans are projected to keep control of the House of Representatives while Obama's Democratic Party is set to secure majority in Senate. nepalnews.com