WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden laid claim Tuesday evening to their first Election Day victories.  

Trump won Kentucky's eight Electoral College votes while Biden added Vermont's three to his tally, according to The Associated Press.

Either candidate needs to win 270 Electoral College votes to lay claim to the White House.

This year, Election Day comes in the thick of the US's worsening coronavirus pandemic. A record-setting number of voters have cast their ballots early either by mail of in-person at polling stations in a bid to avoid the crowded in-door spaces in which the virus thrives.

In all, over 101 million people have cast ballots prior to Election Day, according to the US Elections Project.