Barack Obama and Mitt Romney spent Election Day taking part in last-minute campaigning before the decision as to who would be president was finally in the hands of the American people.

Romney spent today in a frenetic final dash of campaigning in Ohio and Pennsylvania while Obama took time out to play basketball in Chicago with aides and close friends.

The Republican candidate later hopped aboard his plane to take his team back to Massachusetts where 5,000 people were gathering at an invitation-only gala at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

The President spent the morning in Chicago meeting with election campaigners before indulging in an Election Day superstition - shooting hoops with friends.