WASHINGTON (The Thursday Times) — Polls opened across the United States on Tuesday, with more than 54 million people having already voted, in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress and test Donald Trump’s standing two years into his second term.
Voting began in Vermont, with New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Kentucky following. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are on the ballot, along with 35 Senate seats and 36 governorships. Our results card will update as races are called.
The early vote is already nearly half of all the ballots cast in the last midterm. Available data gives Democrats a double-digit lead among early voters, but that says little about the final result, because Republicans vote overwhelmingly in person on election day. Much depends on how many of them turn out today.
Democrats need to flip three House seats and four Senate seats to take control. Most analysts favour them in the House and see the Senate as far less certain, but those are forecasts, and no votes have been counted.
Voters have been most concerned about the cost of living. Diesel, which was $3.75 a gallon before the war with Iran began in February, reached a record $6.52 in September. Final polls put Trump’s approval at around 38%, though one also found that only 29% of voters view the Democratic Party positively.
Trump, who is not on the ballot, has asked supporters to “pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot”. Closing his campaign at the Reflecting Pool in Washington on Monday, he said Republicans “gave this a very strong shot”. He has promised to be ‘Mr Veto’ if Democrats win.
The vote also comes hours after US officials said American forces struck Iran’s Qeshm Island, and after the Supreme Court rejected a bid to set aside ballots in California.
The first polls close at 6pm Eastern time, 4am on Wednesday in Pakistan, in parts of Kentucky and Indiana. Final results may take much longer, with counting in many close races expected to run for days.
