Midterm election: Key races too close to call in US

• Voters in the US are electing their representatives for Congress, as well as several governors
• The midterm votes come in the middle of a sitting US president's term — in this case, Joe Biden
• Exit polls show two of the top issues for voters were inflation and abortion

Welcome to our rolling updates on the US midterm elections, which we will continue to update as polling stations close and results come in.

Election projections based on Associated Press (AP) data.

Thanks for reading DW's live updates on the US midterm election. This article has been closed. 

Control of Congress remains unclear, Democrats stronger than predicted

Control of US Congress was yet to be determined early on Wednesday as Democrats defeated Republicans in a series of pivotal races and defied forecasts that predicted high inflation and President Joe Biden's low approval ratings would make them lose out on votes. 

Democrat John Fetterman took the Republican-controlled Senate seat in Pennsylvania in a move that is key to his party's hopes of maintaining control of the chamber. For now, it is too early to call critical Senate seats in Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona, which could determine which party lead the chamber. 

Incumbent Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "While many races remain too close to call, it is clear that House Democratic members and candidates are strongly outperforming expectations across the country.''

While Democrats were able to retain seats in the House of Representatives from Virginia to Kansa and Rhode Island, current results show Republicans flipping eight House seats, which would be enough to give them control of the lower chamber of Congress if vote counts match electoral projections. 

Top US Republican confident party will 'take the House back' 

The Republican Party leader in the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said early on Wednesday that his party would gain control of the lower chamber of Congress from President Joe Biden's Democrats after the midterm elections. 

"It is clear that we are going to take the House back," he said amid results showing Republicans winning seats necessary to seize the House. 

Forecasts had expected a landslide win for the Republican Party, but a smaller number of seats than expected had been flipped by the party's candidates so far.

McCarthy is poised to take over the position of Speaker of the House from Democrat Nancy Pelosi if Republicans take control of the House of Representatives as expected by election projections and pre-election polling.

John Fetterman wins Senate seat in Pennsylvania

Democrat John Fetterman beat Republican candidate Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania to win one of the most closely watched Senate races. The result could prove key in Democrats' hopes to retain control of the Senate.

"I am so humbled, thank you so much," Fetterman told supporters. "I am so proud of the race we ran. This campaign has been for everyone who ever got knocked down and got back up."

Before election day, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump campaigned in the battleground state for their party's candidate. 

The 53-year-old Fetterman won Pennsylvania's Senate race as he recovers from a stroke he suffered during the confrontational lead-up to the midterms. In media interviews, Fetterman required closed captions as he struggled to complete sentences and jumbled words, raising fears inside the Democratic party that he would lose the race. 

Oz, who is known as a wealthy heart surgeon-turned-TV star, had entered the race after winning the primary barely as opponents described him as an out-of-touch Hollywood liberal.

South Texas: Republican De La Cruz takes US House seat 

Republican Monica De La Cruz won a US House seat in South Texas against her competitor Democrat Michelle Vallejo, a defeat that came in one of the Democrat's most important strongholds in Texas. 

The 15th Congressional District is one of two new House seats granted to Texas in 2021 because of new census figures. It is a predominantly Hispanic region in which Republicans didn't gain much traction until now. 

De La Cruz ran as a supporter of abortion restrictions and a hardline conservative, while Vallejo tried to campaign with promises of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. 

Also in Texas, the two Democratic incumbents, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, won reelection in their House races.

Republican Governor Brian Kemp wins in Georgia 

Republican Brian Kemp won reelection as governor in Georgia, triumphing over his challenger Democrat Stacey Abrams. 

The 59-year-old Kemp made a remarkable political comeback after Donald Trump attacked him due to his refusal to overturn Georgia's 2020 electoral results, weakening his position within his own party. 

Kemp managed to pull away from US Senator David Perdue in this year's Republican primary and quickly had a majority over Abrams, despite the Democrat raising more money than him. 

Pennsylvania: Democrat Josh Shapiro is elected governor 

Democrat Josh Shapiro won the race for governor of Pennsylvania against his Republican Doug Mastriano.

Two-term Attorney General Shapiro ran his campaign on several key issues such as abortion rights and swamped Republican Mastriano in a flood of TV ads. On education funding, COVID-19 mitigation and energy, Shapiro took a position closer to the middle. 

The 49-year-old had served in the state House of Representatives before winning the election to become the state's top prosecutor in 2016 despite having no law enforcement background. 

Mastriano, a state senator and retired Army colonel, appealed to Republican right-wing voters. He secured a Trump endorsement but struggled to raise money and relied on Facebook videos and a grassroots volunteer force. 

Pennsylvania is one of the states where abortion rights are on the line and that often can be decisive when it comes to national elections. 

Shapiro told the crowd of supporters that "democracy endured" and "real freedom won tonight" after receiving the results. 

"Tonight, voters from Gen Z to our seniors, voters from all walks of life, have given me the honor of a lifetime, given me the chance to serve you as Pennsylvania's next governor," he added.

North Carolina: Republican Ted Budd takes seat in Senate

Republican Ted Budd defeated Democrat Cheri Beasley in North Carolina's Senate race on Tuesday, retaining a seat vacated by retiring Republican Senator Richard Burr. 

This extends a current losing streak for North Carolina Democrats aiming for a spot in the upper house of US Congress. 

Budd had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump earlier this year. He is expected to provide a more conservative voice in the Senate than his predecessor Burr. 

Beasley, a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, would have become North Carolina's first Black senator. While she had a significant financial advantage over Budd's campaign, the Republican party supported their candidate with a large wave of spending, criticizing her judicial record as well as her backing of President Joe Biden's policies.

Ohio Senate race: Republican JD Vance wins

JD Vance, the Republican candidate for Senator from Ohio, has won the race. Vance first shot to prominence with his 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy."

Vance was locked in a tight race with his Democratic rival Tim Ryan. The race was closely followed after Republican Senator Rob Portman last year said he wouldn't seek a third term in 2022, leaving the seat up for grabs.

Initially part of the "Never Trump" movement, Vance was later backed the former president and was endorsed by Trump early in his primary campaign.

Gen Z in the House: 25-year-old wins seat in Congress

Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost won handily over his Republican rival in Florida, becoming the first member of Generation Z to win a seat in Congress.

Frost, a 25-year-old social justice activist, ran on a platform of gun control and boosting Medicare. He ran in a heavily blue Orlando-area district.

Frost took to Twitter to celebrate his victory, saying "WE WON!!! History was made tonight."

"We made history for Floridians, for Gen Z, and for everyone who believes we deserve a better future. I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to represent my home in the United States Congress,'' Frost continued.

Gen Z generally refers to those born between the late 1990s to early 2010s. To become a member of Congress, candidates must be at least 25-years-old.

Voting draws to a close across US

Voting in the midterms have almost come to an end, as California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington close polls at 8 p.m. local time (0400 GMT).

Hawaii and Alaska, the two remaining states, will close their polls respectively at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time (0500 GMT).

Republican supporters confident of a Kari Lake victory in Arizona

In Arizona, polls have closed, but not without hiccups as a printing malfunction at about one-quarter of the polling stations across the state's most populous county caused concern among Republicans, as DW's Ines Pohl explained.

"There were some questions if voting would be extended because some of the printers didn't work in about 60 polling stations so the Republicans filed a request to extend the voting time but a judge denied it," she said, speaking in Phoenix, Arizona.

Pohl said the overall feeling in Phoenix is that Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake will win, with confidence high among supporters of the Donald Trump-endorsed candidate.

Lake has pushed the false narrative about the 2020 presidential race, amplifying Trump's lies about a stolen election.

Polls close in Nevada, the last big battleground state

Polls have now closed in most of the United States, with Nevada being the last big swing state to close polls at 7 p.m. local time (0300 GMT).

In Nevada, Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is facing a stiff challenge from Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.

Opinion polls showed both candidates locked in a neck-and-neck race for weeks.

Laxalt has blamed inflation and illegal immigration on Democratic policies, while Cortez Masto has promised to block Republican-led attempts at a nationwide abortion ban among other things.

Abortion, one of the top issues for American voters during this year's midterms, is legal in Nevada.

Cortez Masto, Nevada's first Latina Senator, said she would use her seat in the Senate to thwart any attempts to implement a nationwide abortion ban.

However, the economy is still weighing heavily on the minds of voters in Nevada and the rest of the US.

Along with Nevada, polls also closed in Idaho, Montana and Utah.

What to know as polls close in Arizona

Polls have closed in several more states, including the key southwestern state of Arizona.

Polls closed in Arizona at 7 p.m. local time (0200 GMT) where Senator Mark Kelly has been fighting to hold on to the seat he won for Democrats two years ago.

He faces off against Blake Masters, a venture capitalist backed by billionaire entrepreneur and investor Peter Theil. Kelly faces an uphill battle to maintain his seat in a vastly different political climate, with President Biden's approval being too low to help him out.

Besides Arizona, polls closed in a dozen other states, namely: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Trump's former Press Secretary Sanders elected Arkansas governor

Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has been elected as the next governor of Arkansas, according to projections from the Associated Press.

In doing so, she becomes the first woman to lead the state after defeating Democratic nominee Chris Jones.

Sanders previously held the position of White House press secretary in Washington, serving in the Donald Trump administration from 2017 to 2019.

Why Pennsylvania's Senate race is being watched so closely

The Senate race in the northeastern state of Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the most competitive races in this election cycle.

The seat is being vacated by Republican Senator Pat Toomey. Democratic hopeful John Fetterman is facing off against his rival Republican celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz.

To underscore the importance of the race, President Joe Biden campaigned in Pennsylvania for Fetterman three times in the final three weeks leading up to election day, while Trump came in to hold a rally for Oz, his endorsed candidate.

Fetterman, Pennsylvania's plainspoken lieutenant governor, has led Oz in the polls through the summer, while recovering from a stroke that he suffered in May.

But the Oz campaign has cast doubts on Fetterman's health and deployed other tactics against his Democrat rival, with the gap between the candidates having shrunk considerably in recent weeks.

Pennsylvania is also important because it would give Democrats a fighting chance to flip a Republican-held seat in the Senate race.

The state was pivotal to Biden’s presidential win in 2020, as well as Democratic victories in the 2018 midterms and — importantly — losses in the 2016 election that put former President Donald Trump in the White House.

Rubio holds onto Florida

Republican Marco Rubio has secured reelection to the US Senate in Florida, according to Associated Press projections. In doing so, he has held on to a key seat for the Republicans as the party tries to regain control of the closely contested upper chamber.

Rubio, 51, faced perhaps his toughest battle to hold on to his seat since he was first elected in 2010, fending off a challenge from Democrat Val Demings. Once a presidential hopeful in 2016, Rubio is seen as a potential 2024 candidate.

Turnout high, polls suggest 'a loss' for Democrats in House

Speaking live from Capitol Hill as polls closed in several states, DW correspondent Sumi Somaskanda said the outlook wasn't great for the Democrats, though turnout had been "very high" in some states.

"We are all waiting eagerly for those first results," she said. "The way things have looked for Democrats has not been very good. The Republicans are favorites for the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate as well. Those races in the Senate will come down to the wire."

"Some numbers coming in to us, it looks like early voting has been at a record high in the states of Ohio and in the state of Georgia as well," she continued. "Milwaukee election officials, in the state of Wisconsin, have indicated that the turnout of registered voters is at around 70-75 %. That's very high."

"Until now we are seeing that the polls indicate that the Democrats will suffer a loss in the House of Representatives and will have a very hard time holding onto the Senate."

Voting closes in host of central and eastern US states 

Voting concluded at 8 p.m. ET (0100 GMT) for over 20 southern, central and eastern states, including: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois and Maine.

Polls also closed in Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Tennessee.

Voting has also closed in some districts of Kansas, Michigan and Texas.

Ron DeSantis projected to win reelection as governor in Florida

Republican politician Ron DeSantis is projected to be reelected as Florida's governor, according to data from the Associated Press.

He staved off a challenge from Democrat Charlie Crist. DeSantis is seen as a potential Republican rival against former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race. 

Polls close in Ohio, North Carolina, West Virginia

Polls have now come to a close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.

The Senate race in Ohio is being closely watched, as Trump-backed Republican JD Vance is locked in a tight race against Democratic opponent Tim Ryan.

Both candidates are vying for the key Senate seat after Republican Senator Rob Portman said last year he wouldn't be seeking re-election to a third term in 2022.

Although Ohio is typically seen as a swing-state, it has leaned Republican in recent years and Trump took the state in the 2020 presidential election.

Polls drawing to a close in key states, including Florida and Georgia

Polls have begun closing in some eastern US states, such as Virginia, Vermont, South Carolina, Georgia, and most parts of Florida. 

Polling stations have also come to a close in all parts of Indiana and Kentucky. Early results are expected to trickle in after voting ends.

In Georgia, the race between incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker, could determine which party controls the Senate.

Warnock's special-election victory in 2021 helped Democrats seize a razor-thin Senate majority.

But the state's quirky election law means Tuesday could be just the first round, since Georgia requires over 50% to win statewide office. Polls suggest a close race between both candidates and the runoff would be held on December 6.

Florida is being watched closely for the governor's race as former US President Donald Trump confirmed he voted for incumbent governor Ron DeSantis, a potential rival for the 2024 presidential election.

DeSantis is running against Democrat Charlie Crist in the Florida gubernatorial contest. Most polls show DeSantis being on track for re-election.

Voters in 5 states decide whether to legalize marijuana

Voters in five states are weighing up whether to give the green light for the use recreational of marijuana.

The proposals are on the ballot paper in Republican strongholds Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota. Residents in Democratic-leaning Maryland are also voting on the issue.

The possible measures come after President Joe Biden announced last month he was pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law.

Inflation was top election issue for voters, followed by abortion

Inflation and abortion were top issues for voters as they cast their ballots Tuesday, according to an exit poll conducted by Edison Research.

The research company conducts exit polls for a number of US outlets and said polls showed around 30%, or three out of ten Americans, were concerned about inflation.

A similar percentage of voters were concerned with abortion, the exit poll showed. Around 10%, or one out of ten voters, said crime and immigration determined their voting choices.

US inflation was 8.2% this October, the highest in 40 years.

Arizona governor race: Republican Kari Lake says confident about winning

Arizona's Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake told reporters she was feeling "great" and confident about winning the governor's race in the state.

DW's Washington Bureau Chief, Ines Pohl, reported from Arizona that Lake had arrived in capital city Phoenix to vote. Lake is seen walking with her husband and their children in Pohl's video, with Lake telling reporters: "I'm gonna win this."

Lake, a former news anchor, has echoed Trump's false claims of a stolen 2020 election and has attacked mainstream media. She told reporters she encountered no issues when she voted in what she described as a left-leaning area of Phoenix.

Lake has been speculated to be a potential vice presidential running mate to Trump if he runs in 2024. She faces off against Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs for the governor's race.

Voting machine issues reported in Arizona

There have been some isolated issues with electronic voting machines in one part of Arizona.

A few hours into voting, officials in Maricopa County reported that around 20% of voting machines were malfunctioning, prompting technicians to be rushed to fix them. The county includes the city of Phoenix, which is the firth most populous city in the United States.

"We've got about 20 percent of the locations out there where there's an issue with the tabulator," said Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chair Bill Gates.

This would not affect the integrity of the poll, said Gates.

President Joe Biden managed to win Maricopa County by a slim margin in 2020, but his victory was met with suspicion by some Trump supporters leading to baseless conspiracy claims and theories that the poll was rigged. Investigations have found no evidence of fraud.

Trump confirms vote for Florida governor Ron DeSantis

Former US President Donald Trump told reporters he had cast his ballot in Florida's gubernatorial election, with his vote going to Ron DeSantis.

"Yes, I did," Trump said when asked by a reporter if he voted for DeSantis, as he left a Palm Beach polling station alongside former first lady Melania Trump.

DeSantis is considered a possible contender for the Republican party's presidential candidate, which could see him go up against Trump.

What a Republican win could mean for support in Ukraine

The crucial midterm election could see the Democrats lose control of both chambers of Congress. 

In an interview with DW, Sudha David-Wilp, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Berlin office, said a Republican-dominated House could see more pressure heaped on Europe to help Ukraine.

"What will change — and this actually aligns with growing Republican voter sentiment — is that the US doesn't want to just do it alone," she said. "There won't be any blank checks for Ukraine, but they're going to expect European partners to step up support for Ukraine."

David-Wilp stressed that there is currently overwhelming bipartisan support for Ukraine and NATO in Washington. 

But she added that despite “incredible cohesion” between the US and Europe regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, there could be "friction on the horizon, specifically with Germany and Europe's relations with China."  

She said that, should Congress come under the control of the Republicans, with Democrat President Joe Biden in the White House, "countries like China and Russia that are using disinformation to sow discord in the US will certainly use this as an opportunity to divide Americans even more in a very polarized atmosphere in the run up to 2024."

"The world is watching the state of democracy in the United States right now," David-Wilp said.

The German Marshall Fund is a nonpartisan public policy think tank.

Majority of Black voters expected to back Democratic candidates

Black voters will play an important role in determining the outcome of the midterm election, with Black Americans projected to make up over 13.6% of voters.

According to October figures from the Pew Research Center, Black eligible voters were projected to reach 32.7 million in 2022, a 2% increase from 2018.

The Pew Research Center's August survey found that 70% percent of eligible voters said that they would vote for or were leaning towards the Democratic US House candidate in their district.

Six percent of voters indicated that they would vote for the Republican candidate, while 24% were either unsure or said they would support another candidate.

Black Americans in Georgia account for a third of the eligible electorate, with the state expected to be a key battleground which could determine who holds the reins of the US Senate.

Markets, dollar calm on last day of voting

Activity was modest on Wall Street as Americans were called to vote on Tuesday.

By late morning in New York, the dollar had recorded slight gains against the euro, the British pound and the Australian dollar, while losing some ground to the yen. 

The Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq stock exchanges were all in positive territory, albeit by comparatively small margins of between roughly 0.7% and 1.25%. It was the third straight session of gains. 

Some analysts attributed this to investors being pleased with the prospect of the Republicans splitting or even taking control of Congress, as this might put a check on President Joe Biden's push for more business regulations and increased taxes. 

"The market views Republican gains as positive for business at this point," Christopher Grisanti, chief equity strategist at MAI Capital Management in Cleveland, told Reuters news agency. "A Republican victory is seen as removing either current regulations, like in the energy sector, or potential future regulations like in the pharmaceutical sector." 

Investors might also be waiting both for a potentially drawn-out period of vote counting, and for indications on what steps the US Federal Reserve might take at its next meeting in December, afer a series of interest rate increases this year in a bid to rein in inflation. 

Hispanic vote a core demographic, not least in Arizona and Nevada

The behavior of Latino and Latina voters could be decisive in Democrat campaigns to hold Senate seats in tight races in Arizona and Nevada. A crucial demographic for decades already, it is also a growing one as a proportion of the electorate nationwide.

Mark Kelly's 2020 win in a special election for just the remaining two years of a term gave Democrats control of both of Arizona's Senate seats for the first time in 70 years. The fast-changing demographics of the state, coupled with the unpopularity of then-President Trump, particularly among Hispanic voters, helped drive the swing.

But two years on, it's Biden who is the struggling incumbent and Republicans have poured considerable resources into Blake Masters' bid to unseat him.

In 2020's presidential election, Biden won 58% of votes from Hispanic men in Arizona and 68% from women. Democrats tend to claim the majority of Hispanic votes in most states, particularly among women, at an overall margin of roughly 2 to 1.

In Nevada, where America's first Latina Senator, Catherine Cortez Masto, is hoping to keep her seat, Biden claimed 66% of the Hispanic female vote but only 45% among men, compared to 48% for Trump.

The outlier among the states with a high Hispanic population share tends to be Florida. It has a high proportion of voters with roots in Cuba, many of whom have been historically sympathetic to the Republican Party and its tough line on the government in Havana. Trump only narrowly lost out to Biden in 2020 among Hispanic voters and won the state overall.

Prominent GOP Senator Marco Rubio is fighting for re-election in Florida, most pollsters expect him to claim a third term.

What's at stake for the rest of the world? 

Although US foreign policy tends to be much more stable than domestic policy in the aftermath of US elections, the vote could make it more difficult for President Joe Biden to pursue his desired course on a series of major issues.

Republicans have stopped short of questioning Biden's overall approach to the war in Ukraine, especially at the highest echelons of the party. However, an emboldened Republican party might make it difficult for the US to sustain the scope and speed of the military and economic support it has been providing to Ukraine. As Washington is Kyiv's largest military donor by a wide margin, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's administration is liable to be watching the results closely.

Meanwhile, at the COP 27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday, climate envoy John Kerry sought to reassure other participants that the latest US climate plan would not be jeopardized if results swung the Republicans' way.

Even if the Democrats lose the election, Kerry said "President Biden is more determined than ever to continue what we are doing."

"And most of what we are doing cannot be changed by anybody else who comes along," Kerry said. "The marketplace has made its decision to do what we need to do to respond to the climate crisis." Biden is currently scheduled join the COP later in the week, on Friday, after the midterm election.

Several of the domestic measures designed to help combat climate change are actually part of what Biden calls his $700 billion (roughly €700 billion) "Inflation Reduction Act." This includes a series of other measures such as capping the amount seniors would pay for prescription drugs, extra funding for the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service, incentives for buyers of US-made electric cars, and a new minimum rate of corporation tax of 15% for large companies. Most if not all of these measures are probably more likely to enjoy support from Democrat lawmakers than Republicans.

Which states are the key Senate battlegrounds? 

Observers and polling companies deem four of the 36 Senate races to be a "toss-up," where a result is not easy to predict ahead of time and the race is liable to be too close to call early.

Three are currently held by Democrats, one by Republicans.

For more detail on which races to monitor closely in the Senate and further afield, click here, but here's the whistle-stop tour of the main Senate battlegrounds.

In Arizona, Democrat incumbent and retired astronaut Mark Kelly faces a challenge from Blake Masters, a young, Trump-backed protégé of German-American billionaire and key Republican donor Peter Thiel. Recent polls gave Kelly a slight edge, but the state tends to be closely contested.

In Georgia, the battleground state with the largest Black population, Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock is a pastor at Atlanta's famous Ebenezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King preached. His opponent, Herschel Walker, was an American football player and a member of the 1992 US Olympic bobsleigh team; he was tapped to enter the political arena by former President Donald Trump.

In Nevada, America's first Latina Senator Catherine Cortez Masto faces a tough re-election battle against Adam Laxalt, formerly a state attorney general. Polls were neck and neck in the build-up to voting.

Pennsylvania is the only anticipated nail-biter currently in Republican hands. A perennial swing state, the Democrats are hoping to reclaim it with their candidate John Fetterman. Fetterman suffered a severe stroke in May impairing his speech and hearing. For the Republicans, former TV doctor Mehmet "Dr" Oz is running following the retirement of incumbent Senator Pat Toomey.

Last-minute lawsuits could delay results in close races

As voting drew near, courts were still hearing a handful of last-minute lawsuits that could impact election rules and ballot counting in important swing states.

Both Republicans and Democrats have been seeking to define the rules on voting and eligibility in the months leading up to the election; their attorneys are preparing for challenges in the days and weeks after the vote.

Senate candidate John Fetterman and other Democrats sued in a Pennsylvania federal court on Monday to force officials to include undated mail-in ballots in the state's count. This followed a similar lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed on Friday.

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court had granted a Republican request to block such ballots from being counted, but this triggered debate on whether doing so would violate civil rights law.

In Georgia, the ACLU and lawyers for Cobb County secured a deal to extend a mail-in ballot delivery deadline for just over 1,000 voters who had requested absentee ballots but had not been sent them on time. They will now be able to vote using an alternative write-in form typically used by military members overseas.

And in Arizona, a judge on Monday blocked officials in Cochise County from conducting a hand count of all ballots, finding that the county board that ordered the count had "no authority" to do so.

Eastern US states open polls, more than 40 million early voters

Polls opened in New York, New Jersey, Maine, Georgia, Connecticut and several other eastern states on Tuesday morning local time, while 41 million ballots were also cast ahead of the election day, with Joe Biden's vote among their ranks.

Early voting has been ahead of 2018 trends, following on from the 2020 presidential election amid the COVID pandemic  restrictions, when many more people than usual elected to vote early and avoid polling booths themselves. 

Voting will continue until mid-evening on the West Coast, around 14 hours after polling booths opened in states like New Jersey, though it is likely some voting stations will extend their hours if necessary.

What is at stake on Tuesday? 

Voters will be asked to pick candidates for all 435 seats in the lower chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, where all delegates serve two-year terms. 

Meanwhile, 35 Senate seats are up for grabs. That represents roughly one third of the upper chamber where Senators serve for six years at a time. 

In addition, 36 states and three territories will elect new governors. Numerous state and local elections are also taking place on the same day. 

Control of both the Senate and the House is up for grabs. The Democrats hold a razor thin 50-50 majority in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote. So a net loss of just one would tip the balance of power.

Only a handful of Tuesday's Senate races are expected to be tight — perhaps most notably those in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

In the House, Republicans need a net gain of five seats. 

What could be the impact for Joe Biden? 

At a rally on election eve, President Joe Biden said he believed his party could maintain control of the Senate, but conceded "it's going to be tough" to maintain a majority in the House. 

Biden has also said that democracy itself is at stake, given some Republican candidates indicating that they might not accept defeat. Observers also believe that former President Donald Trump will seek the Republican nomination again in 2024. Trump famously never accepted defeat and did not attend Biden's inauguration. 

Losing control of either or both chambers would make it even more difficult for Biden to pass legislation in the second half of his presidential term.

This could also complicate his administration's efforts to navigate both domestic and international problems such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, climate change, and rising inflation hitting prices for core goods like food and fuel. 

Although there is some scope to legislate via presidential decrees known as executive orders, used frequently by both his predecessors Trump and Barack Obama, these can be unpopular and also tend to face review if a new president comes into office.

jsi, rm, kb, msh/rs (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)