Voters in tenUS states are set to pick a Republican presidential candidate, as the rollercoaster race reaches a potentially decisive moment.
Super Tuesday sees contests in Ohio, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Oklahoma, Idaho, North Dakota and Alaska.
Voting has begun in the east, including battleground Ohio, where Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are level-pegging.
The eventual nominee challenges Barack Obama in November’s general election.
Front-runner Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and private equity tycoon, has been riding a wave of momentum after four consecutive poll wins.
But former Pennsylvania Senator Santorum – who bills himself as the true conservative in the race and a candidate who can win over blue-collar voters – is hoping to halt his rival’s winning streak.
Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, making a do-or-die effort to reboot his flagging campaign, has a commanding opinion poll lead in his home state of Georgia.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul, often dismissed as a longshot candidate because of his libertarian-leaning views, hopes to notch up his first wins in Alaska and North Dakota’s caucuses. (BBC)
