Five more US states vote

Voters cast ballots in five northeastern states yesterday, with frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both looking to overwhelm their respective Democratic and Republican rivals in the race for the White House.

A very strong showing in primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island would Clinton on the cusp of Democratic victory, a monumental step in her quest to become the nation's first female commander in chief.

Trump also was expected to extend his formidable lead in the bruising race for the Republican nomination, even as rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich mounted a hasty, and already fraying tag team effort to try to block him.

Kasich agreed to forego campaigning in Indiana, a winner-take-all state that votes May 3, and Cruz will return the favour later in New Mexico and Oregon.

But within hours of the surprise deal, the Ohio governor was already playing it down, saying he was not telling his supporters in Indiana not to vote for Cruz.

Yesterday's voting began at 6:00 am in Connecticut and one hour later in the other states. Polls across all five states close at 8:00 pm.

Clinton was favoured to win all five state Democratic contests, with polls giving her a double-digit lead over rival Bernie Sanders in Pennsylvania, the biggest state of the bunch with 189 delegates.

According to a recent CBS poll, Trump leads Indiana with 40 percent of likely Republican voters, compared to 35 percent for Cruz and 20 percent for Kasich.

A Trump loss in Indiana would make it much harder for him to gain the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination in the first round of balloting at the party's convention in Cleveland July 18-21.