Exit polls for the US elections show that over three-quarters of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump.

While Trump picked up 76% of the white evangelical vote, 23% chose Democratic contender Joe Biden - a noticeable increase from the 16% who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

The figures from Edison Research for the National Election Pool also represent a fall in white evangelical support for Trump this time round, down from 81% four years ago. 

It's also slightly lower than the 78% Mitt Romney achieved in 2012. 

A separate survey of 800 voters was carried out on Election Day by Public Opinion Strategies for the Faith and Freedom Coalition.  It found that 81% of self-identified evangelicals voted for Trump, while only 14% backed Biden. 

Tim Head, executive director of Faith and Freedom Coalition, said: "Republicans cannot win without these voters, and Democrats continue to suffer for failing to appeal in a substantive way to these voters of faith."

Votes are still being counted in the closely fought election race, with both Trump and Biden saying they are on course to win. 

Trump's team is challenging vote counts in the key states of Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Biden will be the next president if he wins in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. 

Southern Baptist theologian Russell Moore, writing for The Gospel Coalition, said division was here to stay regardless of who wins. 

"The divisions in the country are real, and aren't going away, regardless of who is ultimately certified as the electoral winner this year. Narrative closure is not what this election could, or should have been expected to do," he said.