Even as the race begins to hot up, with Democratic challenger John Kerry pulling ahead of President George W Bush 77-66, thanks to a clutch of leads in states such as Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maine, Vermont, Delaware, Maryland and District of Columbia, it's wise to keep in mind that all such projections are just that -- projections.

For example, Bush's call for Georgia is based on the fact that he is leading by over 100 per cent in the 32 precincts that have reported results. Never mind that there are a total of 3126 precincts in that state.

The same holds true to Senator Kerry.

In some of the cases, however, it's usually safe to call one candidate or another when networks are sure that the population and voting pattern is sufficient data.

In Kentucky, for example, 2,149 precincts out of 3,482 have reported in, with Bush getting almost 650,000 votes while Kerry only has about 480,000.

Where the voting is too close for comfort, networks in the US are playing it safe this year and leaving those states until the close of polling.

So even if Kerry is leading with 77 right now, it might be too early to celebrate. Remember, the game is not over until the last ball has been bowled.