What you need to know
Welcome to our live coverage of the US midterm elections, where several critical races could have major consequences for US politics and Donald Trump’s presidency.
With polls open across the country, here’s what you need to know ahead of election night.
- All seats in the US House of Representatives and a third of those in the Senate are up for grabs tonight, as well as several governorships. Both the Senate and the House currently have Republican majorities.
- President Donald Trump announced the US will stop providing $US4 billion ($5.7 billion) in aid each year to Israel by the end of 2026.
- Polls and nonpartisan analysts say that Democrats are likely to wrest control of the House of Representatives from Trump’s Republican Party in Tuesday’s elections. Control of the Senate remains uncertain, with some polls predicting a ‘blue wave’, while others suggest a tight contest.
- Polls will start to close at 6pm Tuesday Eastern time (10am Wednesday AEDT), with Texas and most Midwest states closing at 9pm Eastern (1pm AEDT) and Alaska closing at midnight Eastern (4pm AEDT).
Read more on US politics:
Some voters in Georgia receive false texts from unknown sender about polling site changes
A few hiccups have come up in Fulton County, Georgia, a Democratic stronghold US President Donald Trump has long falsely accused of widespread voter fraud that he says caused him to lose the state in 2020.
Some voters have reported receiving texts that were not sent by the county about polling place changes, according to Fulton County’s Facebook page. A county spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Kyle Gomez-Leineweber, policy director at election watchdog group Common Cause Georgia, said the group was aware of the texts but didn’t know who sent them or if they were based on incorrect information or were intentionally trying to mislead voters.
Gomez-Leineweber said volunteers have been telling people to double-check information with official sources.
Separately, about 1000 ballots received during early voting last month will be rescanned “as a precaution” due to equipment failures with two scanners, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said on Tuesday. He said it would not delay election results.
AP
How the elections will reshape America’s political landscape
Washington: The midterm results will shape the final two years of US President Donald Trump’s second term after the Republican-controlled Congress acted as a rubber stamp to much of his agenda.
While Trump has proven adept at steamrolling efforts to rein him in, Democrats taking control of even one chamber of Congress would open the floodgates to investigations and possible impeachments. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and tech titan Elon Musk, a former top Trump adviser, are among possible targets.
An especially strong showing for Democrats would also boost potential presidential candidates, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
It could also complicate the paths of Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans who may be looking to turn their loyalty to Trump into momentum.
Trump’s Justice department deploys 1000 election monitors
Detroit: The US Justice Department said it was deploying 1000 election monitors and observers to all 50 states in what it called the largest Election Day monitoring effort in history.
Democrats have criticised the plan as potential voter intimidation. In about two-thirds of the jurisdictions the department listed, voters supported Democrat Kamala Harris over US President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, a Reuters analysis found.
Black and Latino voters make up a majority in many of the jurisdictions, which are concentrated in states that could determine control of the US Senate.
Legal observers and Democrats have warned that Trump, who has long falsely claimed that US elections are rigged, may attempt to challenge Tuesday’s results if Republicans lose.
‘I’m not thinking about Haley’: Democrat El-Sayed brushes off bitter rival’s betrayal
The Democrats’ Senate candidate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, appeared at a polling place in Ann Arbor where he answered a few questions.
He was asked whether he would blame Haley Stevens – the pro-Israel congresswoman he beat in the Democratic primary, who sensationally endorsed Republican Mike Rogers on the weekend – if he loses today.
“At the end of the day, I’m not thinking about Haley Stevens,” he said. “I feel really good about where we are right now, but nothing is a foregone conclusion.”
Watch: How NASA astronauts cast ballots from a space station
Astronaut Anil Menon’s sleeping compartment aboard the International Space Station doubled as his voting booth.
Menon said in a brief video posted via X on Tuesday that he used his computer to fill out and submit an electronic ballot to Harris County, Texas. Crewmates Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney did the same.
Harris County is home to NASA’s Johnson Space Centre and Mission Control.
US astronauts have been voting in space since 1997.
AP
Oil prices swing on election day as uncertainty swirls over US-Iran peace talks
Oil prices swung in a choppy session as traders parsed conflicting signs on the trajectory of peace talks between the US and Iran.
The global benchmark Brent steadied near $US103 ($147) a barrel after swinging in a more than $US6 range. European gas futures also fell.
Traders are keenly focused on the status of peace talks between the US and Iran, after both parties expressed openness to diplomacy this week. Futures pared some losses after Iran said the US response to its demands wasn’t “satisfactory” and that no new developments had been reached.
The remarks cast doubt on earlier unconfirmed reports of progress that had pushed oil lower, the latest example of headlines whipsawing the market in recent sessions.
‘Debacle’: Ballot scanning problem plagues voting machines in tight New York county contest
A ballot scanning “debacle” is impacting tens of thousands of votes in a key district in New York state, and has led allies of Donald Trump to accuse Democrats of election meddling.
The issue is plaguing voting machines in Westchester County, affecting votes in New York’s 17th congressional district, where Republican Mike Lawler is in a tough contest to keep his seat against the Democrats’ Cait Conley.
County executive Ken Jenkins said the “debacle” was affecting 350 polling places across the entire county. “The ballot is not going through the scanner,” he said at a news conference.
“This situation is completely unacceptable … You’re furious, and I am as well.“
Data centre backlash may be a potent election issue
Opposition to data centres in communities across the US has snowballed from a local issue into a midterm election weapon in statewide races from Texas to Ohio to Florida amid the artificial intelligence revolution.
Candidates spent millions to paint their opponents as data centre patsies – giving them nicknames like “Data Nate” – as onetime data centre boosters worked to distance themselves or get tough on the industry.
They had an ally: US President Donald Trump urged communities to accept data centres, as the industry spent millions of dollars to boost its image.
Meanwhile, the issue crossed traditional ideological boundaries.
Vance’s Election Day message makes misleading claims about tax cuts
In a post on X, the vice president sought to remind voters about the Trump administration’s effort to cut taxes over the past year and a half.
“We ended taxes on overtime. We ended taxes on tips. We ended taxes on Social Security,” JD Vance wrote on the social media platform.
But the changes made by the wide-ranging tax law enacted by Trump are not that clear-cut.
More than 40 states have not implemented the federal law ending taxes on tips, meaning workers who receive a federal tax deduction for tips or overtime still will owe state taxes on those earnings.
As for taxes on Social Security, the legislation targeted seniors’ income with a temporary benefit, not just Social Security.
AP
What our experts are saying
If you’re looking for an expert’s take on the midterm elections, and what they mean for Australia and the world, we’ve got you covered.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
