George W. Bush won re-election Nov. 2 after a tightly contested race that turned into a nail-bitter as the states' electoral votes were tallied (286 to 252), and in the end turned on the outcome in the "battleground" state of Ohio. Bush's Democratic rival John Kerry lost the national popular vote by just over 3.5 million. U.S. voters went to the polls in record numbers -- the most since the Vietnam War era -- reaching 60 percent, or 120 million. The United States remains a deeply polarised nation. "There is a desperate need for unity," said Kerry in his Nov. 3 concession speech.