US President George W. Bush will declare victory in the hotly-contest presidential eleciton even if his Democratic rival John Kerry refused to concede defeat in the key battleground state of Ohio, his aides said Wednesday morning.

Fox and NBC, two major television networks, projected that Bush had won the 20 electoral votes in the critical state, putting him within one electoral college vote of the 270 needed to win the presidency. Bush then claimed the five electoral votes in Neveda.

The Kerry campaign refused to concede defeat before every vote in Ohio had been counted.

"We've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night," Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards told a rally in the central Boston, where thousands of Kerry supports awaited the election result, early Wednesday.