REPUBLICAN candidate Donald Trump has maintained the lead on the ongoing presidential race in America with 216 electoral, while Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton got 197 electoral votes.
Trump's lead came after winning in North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes.
North Carolina was one of the hardest-fought contests of the election and is one of the map's newest swing states. It consistently went for Republicans until Barack Obama captured it in 2008. Republican Mitt Romney narrowly won the state in 2012.
Trump also won in Florida, Idaho, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and South Carolina.
Clinton won in Oregon, California, Hawaii, Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico, Virginia, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, District of Columbia, and Washington.
The results in California were not surprising. The state, with 55 electoral votes, has voted for Democrats beginning in 1992. Hawaii has chosen Democrats consistently since 1988.
Virginia was reliably Republican for decades until Barack Obama won it twice.
History was on Trump's side in the Louisiana. The state has not given its electoral votes to a Democrat since Bill Clinton won 52 percent of the vote two decades ago.
The result in Missouri was not as a surprise, as the last Democratic victory in the Show Me State came in 1996.
Texas is the second-largest prize on the map with 38 electoral votes. While New York, which both candidates call home, has 29 electoral votes.
The results in Alabama continue the streak of voting for Republicans every presidential election since 1980.
Massachusetts and the District of Columbia are two of the nation's safest Democratic strongholds.
The last time Oklahoma went for a Democrat was 1964, when it voted for Lyndon Johnson. Maryland last went for the GOP in 1988. While New Jersey has been a safe Democratic state for 20 years.
It takes 270 votes to win the presidency. (AP)