Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Georgia

Image source, Getty Images

Georgia had a record-breaking early voting period, with 2.5 million voters casting their ballots so far.

The state’s top election official, a Republican, has praised the overall effort. But there have been notable complications.

There have been individual reports that Georgians found out their eligibility had been challenged during the early vote period.

In this election cycle, conservatives in Georgia have used the new state law to challenge the eligibility of tens of thousands of voters in their counties in an attempt to remove them from the rolls, though many of those challenges were unsuccessful.

In Cobb County, just north of Atlanta, county officials failed to mail about 1,000 absentee ballots to those who requested it. Officials say it was a mistake and have rushed to deliver the ballots.

“It is unacceptable, period," said a spokesperson for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the man who oversees the state's voting.

"We have opened an investigation and will refer to the state elections board to determine appropriate consequences."

Expect voting rights advocates to be keeping a close eye on the state on election day, as millions more voters head to the ballot box in one of the country’s most consequential elections.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Well, the final polls are out and can help give us an answer to this question just hours before election day.

Indications are that the Republican Party is on the verge of taking back control of the House of Representatives for the first time in four years.

The upper chamber of Congress, the Senate, remains too close to call. There are more paths to Republican victory in the Senate than there are for Democrats, who have held the barest of majorities there for the past two years.

That gives the Republicans the upper hand, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

You can read more here.

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The sun has just set here in Washington DC, and there are now only hours to go until polls open on Tuesday.

Here's the latest:

• President Joe Biden will deliver his final pitch to voters at 19:00 (00:00 GMT) at a rally on Monday in Maryland, a state normally considered a Democratic stronghold
• Former President Donald Trump is up next, speaking to voters at 20:00 (01:00 GMT) in Ohio at a rally for Republican senate candidate JD Vance
• Polls suggest Democrats are likely to lose their majority in the House of Representatives. Control of the Senate will probably rely on the results of extremely tight races in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada
• Losing control of the Senate would have major implications for Biden and could thwart his agenda for the remainder of his presidency
• All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs on Tuesday, as are 35 senate seats and 36 governorships

Holly Honderich
Reporting from Kentucky

Kentucky already has one of the most rigid abortion bans in the country.

On Tuesday, voters in this southern, conservative state will decide whether to go a step further and change the constitution to say there is no protection for abortion rights here.

The ballot measure will be a crucial test of Americans’ support for abortion access and the bans that have swept the country since the Supreme Court effectively ended the constitutional right to the procedure in June.

In Louisville, voters were intensely divided on an issue with very little middle ground.

Anti-abortion campaigners say backing the amendment is necessary to save what they call “pre-born lives” in the state, while pro-choice advocates argue that doing so would hinder efforts to challenge abortion restrictions.

Both sides see it as a winning issue. We’ll soon know who was right.

The Department of Justice will monitor 64 jurisdictions in 24 states to ensure they are complying with federal election laws, the top US law enforcement agency announced in a press release earlier.

"Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Division has regularly monitored elections in the field in jurisdictions around the country to protect the rights of voters," it said in a news release.

The list of places to be monitored spans Philadelphia, Phoenix, Atlanta, Cleveland, Las Vegas, and others.

Officials in Harris County - where Houston, Texas, is located - had requested federal poll monitors after the state announced that it would send its own monitors to the area.

The watchers come from the justice department's Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section. They ensure that protections for minority groups are not being violated.

Jane O'Brien
Reporting from New Hampshire

New Hampshire’s Senate race between Democrat Maggie Hassan and Republican Don Bolduc remains neck and neck, with Republican voters focused firmly on the economy and ready to dismiss their candidate’s flirtation with conspiracy theories.

"Our livelihood is at stake here – that’s what’s important," according to Suzanne Nelson, president of the North Country Federated Republican Women.

"New Hampshire is like the rest of the country – we’re just fed up with what’s going on," she says.

Blaine Nelson (no relation), one of several women taking part in a sign waving event in the community of Center Conway, says: "I didn’t vote for Don Bolduc in the primary but I really like him. He’s down to earth and listens to the people."

She adds that she supports abortion rights, but feels the states should decide how to regulate it.

Hassan has accused Bolduc of backing a nationwide ban on abortion, which he denies.

Peter Bowes
North America correspondent

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With 52 congressional districts up for grabs, there's much to play for here in California.

Overwhelmingly Democratic, the Golden State wields huge political influence over the House of Representatives.

All eyes will be on very late night - or late in the week - results from America's most populous state.

About half a dozen races are a toss-up as we go into polling day. They could prove crucial to the balance of power in the House.

The electoral map has been redrawn since the last election. Shifting district boundaries have skewed the political landscape making it difficult to predict which seats could flip.

But in this traditionally blue state, where violent crime is rising, the economy is fragile and gas prices are the highest in the country, the Democrats are nervous.

It's unlikely to be a tsunami, but a red - Republican - wave could be poised to crash over California.

There have been "no specific, credible threats" to security found by law enforcement ahead of tomorrow's vote, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre says.

She adds that President Joe Biden has been briefed "on the threat environment" - and has directed that all appropriate steps be taken "to ensure safe and secure voting".

Image source, Getty Images

In the US, there’s no single way votes are counted.

The process is a patchwork across the country - with each state having different rules for how people can vote and when election officials can begin tallying ballots.

This affects how promptly results are announced - with some states taking far longer than others.

For example, in Pennsylvania - a crucial state which could go either way in the midterms - postal ballots, which can be sent weeks in advance, cannot be counted until election day.

For this reason, it could take days to complete the vote count in Pennsylvania, according to the state’s election chief.

A delay doesn’t mean anything is wrong - despite some candidates claiming it shows that the vote is fixed.

Some states even allow postal ballots that arrive after election day, as long as they are postmarked by then - so a full count is sometimes not possible until the days following.

Some Republicans also point to the fact that cities, which often vote for Democrats, take longer to count and announce their results as a sign that something is wrong.

But big cities have many more voters than smaller rural places, so tallying their ballots takes longer.

Democrats are also more likely to send ballots by posts, whilst Republicans are more likely to go to the polls to vote in person.

This can skew early results, depending on whether a state counts postal ballots or in-person votes first.

You can read more about when we will know the election results here.

Democratic Ohio Senate candidate Tim Ryan and his rival, Trump-backed Republican JD Vance each assess their chances and appeal to voters.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

A coalition of centrist congressional Democrats that call themselves the Blue Dogs pride themselves on offering practical solutions to national problems and working with their Republican counterparts.

At one point in the earlier 2000s, they numbered more than 50. If the 2022 midterms turn into a Republican rout, however, barely a handful could remain.

There are currently 19 members of the Blue Dog Coalition in the US Congress. Seven are in re-election races rated “competitive” by Cook Political Report.

Another three are retiring from the House of Representatives, after changes to the geographical boundaries deciding who can vote in their seats - known as redistricting - made Republicans heavily favoured to win them.

One lost to a left-wing Democrat in the party primary earlier this year.

Congressman Tom O’Halleran of Arizona, co-chair of the Blue Dog Democrats, knows first-hand the challenges facing Democratic moderates in modern US politics.

His opponent is a Donald Trump-endorsed Republican who denies Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.

At a campaign event among loyal Democrats earlier this year, however, he was less focused on his Republican counterpart than on explaining why his own party hasn’t been able to enact a more sweeping liberal agenda.

"When you’re a moderate, you get it both ways,” he told me over lunch later in the day.

But, he continued, moderates are the ones who make government work:

Olga Robinson
Disinformation expert at BBC Monitoring

Image source, REUTERS/Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool/File

Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a wealthy Russian businessman widely known as Putin's chef - because his restaurants hosted dinners which Putin attended - has appeared to admit to Russian interference in US elections.

Prigozhin, who has been linked to the Russian "troll farm", known as the Internet Research Agency (IRA), is under US sanctions for Kremlin interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In a statement put out by his catering company Concord on the eve of the US midterms, he said Russia was interfering in US elections and this meddling was continuing.

"Gentlemen, we interfered, we interfere and we will interfere. Carefully, surgically, with precision and in our own way, as we know how. During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and the liver at once," Prigozhin said in response to a reporter’s question about possible Russian meddling in midterms.

The statement was written in a sarcastic tone and it remains unclear how serious Prigozhin was in his remarks.

In September, he admitted to founding Russia’s shadowy mercenary group called Wagner, which has been active in Syria, Ukraine and African countries, after years of publicly denying his involvement.

The election for the House of Representatives is the only nationwide poll on Tuesday.

The Democrats currently control the House but the latest estimates suggests the Republicans are ahead.

The BBC’s US partners CBS, have the Republicans on 228 seats to the Democrats 207.

They have looked at other scenarios too.

What could happen if young people turn out in the numbers they did in 2018?

In this case things are much closer with the Democrats on 218 and the Republicans on 217.

The polls though are not predicting a high turnout for young voters, if anything the Republican lead has been growing over recent weeks.

So, what might happen if Republican voters turn out in greater numbers?

In this case CBS estimate the Republicans could reach 238 seats, a 25 seat majority over the Democrats.

You can see more on their poll here., external

Image source, .

If you are in the US you may be sick and tired of the political ads bombarding your television and streaming services. Also, you might be interested to know that the 2022 elections have turned out to be the most expensive midterms ever.

The costs are expected to cross $16.7bn, according to a study by the non-partisan OpenSecrets group.

"No other midterm election has seen as much money at the state and federal levels as the 2022 elections," said Sheila Krumholz, OpenSecrets' executive director.

The money spent on advertisement has shattered records too. The spending on political ads has touched $9.7bn, according to AdImpact, an advertising tracking firm.

The Georgia senate race between Republican Herschel Walker and Democrat Raphael Warnock is billed as the most expensive race of the season. As per AdImpact, Warnock has spent about $72m on ads - more than any candidate running for office this year.

The Wall Street Journal calculated that to win a single senate seat, Republicans and Democrats have spent the equivalent of $30.83 on every one of the 7.8 million eligible voters in Georgia.

Image source, Getty Images

Gary O'Donoghue
Reporting from Georgia

Image source, .

Meet the independent candidate who could spoil Tuesday’s party for both Republicans and Democrats in Georgia.

Chase Oliver is 37 and the libertarian standing for Georgia’s Senate seat currently occupied by Democrat Raphael Warnock.

We arrange to meet at his campaign office and he tells us he’ll let his roommate know as the office doubles as his home.

We’re greeted by an enthusiastic dog called Delilah, and observed silently by an ageing cat, King Arthur.

Oliver, whose Twitter bio reads "gay and armed", has been polling between 2% and 5% in the race, keeping the main party candidates in the mid-40s.

But under Georgia law, the winner has to get over 50% or there’s a run-off between the top two.

"If this race goes to a run-off, that’s a sign from a certain amount of voters that there’s real dissatisfaction with the two-party system," says Oliver.

But how will his supporters vote, if there’s a run-off?

He says they’ll split "pretty evenly".

A run-off does appear the most likely outcome, so have some sympathy for Georgia voters who might have to do this all over again in just four weeks' time.

Image source, Reuters

Gary O'Donoghue
Reporting from Georgia

Image source, .

In Georgia, all eyes are on the election for one of its Senate seats, while of the state’s 14 Congressional districts, only one is in any way competitive.

The race for governor has the Republican incumbent, Brian Kemp, with a significant lead beyond the margin for error.

So, it’s the battle between Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker that counts.

Georgia requires the winner to get more than 50% of the vote or there has to be a run-off between the top two.

Both these candidates are neck and neck, but stuck in the mid 40s, thanks to a libertarian who’s polling up to 5% at times.

In 2020, two Senate run-offs here handed back control of the chamber to the Democrats, giving them room to pass big pieces of legislation.

Georgia could once again be that tipping point for both parties.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Democrats currently hold the slimmest of margins in controlling the 100-member Senate, but tight races in many states this election threaten their majority - and the fate of the last two years of the Biden presidency.

In Georgia, Republican candidate Herschel Walker is polling at 47.5% versus Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock, who is polling at around 46%.

In Pennsylvania, both Republican candidate Mehmet Oz and Democrat candidate John Fetterman are polling at around 46%.

Because these races are so close, it is likely that we won't know who will control the Senate for days after the election.

Georgia, in particular, may take time, as the state requires that the winning candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. If either candidate fails to do so, another election will be held on 6 December.

Other Senate races also appearing too close to call include Nevada and Arizona. At this point, either party could win control.

Image source, Reuters

Given his recent endorsement, it's important to note that Elon Musk's public support for the Republicans has been growing in recent months.

In June, Twitter's new owner publicly stated , externalhe had voted for a Republican for the first time - in this case Mayra Flores, who flipped a traditionally Democratic seat in Texas in a special election.

At the time, Musk predicted a "massive red wave" at the midterms, but was non-committal about whether he would vote Republican in a presidential race

However, in response to a question about who he might support if he did, Musk said his preference would be for current Florida Governor and conservative firebrand Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis, who is widely regarded as among the favourites to stand for president in 2024 and often called "Trump with substance", has recently been given the unflattering nickname of "Ron DeSanctimonious" by his main rival.

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It’s still a day before voters flock to the polls for the midterms, but more election-related lawsuits have already been filed this year than in all of 2020.

Lawsuits challenging everything from who can vote to how ballots are collected and monitored are most visible in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

According to a real-time case count, external maintained by Democracy Docket, a liberal leaning group that tracks lawsuits, 170 cases in 35 states had already been filed by 3 November.

More than 100 of those cases are still active.

According to those who have filed them, some lawsuits are driven by a desire to defend access to polls, while others are over concern for fraud.

The US Constitution does not provide for a central election monitoring body and each state has different elections laws.

So, if you are watching for closely fought races, brace for a long night - or maybe even days or weeks for a final count.