As the US presidential election continues to hang in the balance, initial exit poll figures indicate that a large proportion of Christians showed up to vote for incumbent president Donald Trump. 

An early ABC News exit poll reported that some 81 per cent of white protestants voted Republican, along with 69 per cent of white Catholics. In 2016, Tump achieved exactly the same voting figure — 81 per cent — amongst white evangelicals; interestingly, in this election, that particular category, along with those classed as "born-again", was down five percentage points to 76 per cent, according to the latest poll. 

Overall, 68 per cent of "protestants or other Christians' voted Republican, while 31 per cent voted Democrat. The overall Catholic vote went 62 per cent Republican and 37 per cent Democrat. 

The final outcome of the US election has yet to be determined as ballots continue to be counted in a number of key battleground states. Last night, Trump declared that he had won the election and insisted that the counting of mail-in ballots should cease. 

"This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election,” he told jubilant supporters. 

In response, the Biden campaign called Trump's remarks "a naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens".

Tweeting his comments, Joe Biden remarked: "It's not my place or Donald Trump's place to declare the winner of this election. It's the voters' place."