Clinton takes 3-point lead

With four days to go before election day, one new poll gives Hillary Clinton a three point national lead over Donald Trump. The poll also suggests that the majority of voters have already made up their minds and that the latest revelations and accusations about both candidates has made marginal difference.

The poll published by New York Times/CBS News gives a small lead to the Democrats, saying 45 per cent of voters are supporting Clinton, with 42 backing Trump. While that lead may be leapt on by supporters of Clinton, experts point out that it is within the poll's margin of sampling error.

The website Fivethirtyeight gives Clinton a 67.6 per cent chance of winning, with Trump a 32.3 per cent chance of securing his ambition of becoming president.

More than 27 million people have already voted in the US presidential election, and early trends are offering some hints of the outcome. Voters had cast 6.7 million more early ballots compared to the same period in 2012, the data analytics firm Catalist said.

Early voting tallies indicate Democrats are turning out in greater numbers than Republicans in some states, an advantage for Clinton, experts say.

But turnout is lagging among young people and African Americans, key constituencies that lifted a triumphant Barack Obama into the White House in 2008.

More significantly, the poll found the number of Clinton supporters who were enthusiastic about her candidacy dropped from 51 to 43 percent, while Trump's numbers remained unchanged at 53 percent.

So far, there are signs of enthusiasm among early voters who are Latino, women and white liberals, a good sign for Clinton.

Trump faces bigger hurdles. They include Clinton's early vote lead in the swing states of Nevada, Virginia and Colorado. Polls have put Clinton and Trump in virtual tie in florida, a must win state for the Republican if he wants to be president.

Experts says this has made compulsory for Trump to win almost every other battleground states.

On top of that, Latino voters overwhelmingly support Clinton, with a record 27.3 million of them eligible to vote in this election -- four million more than during the last presidential race, according to the Pew Research Center.