Sarah Smith
North America Editor

Polls suggest that Republicans are poised to take control of the House of Representatives.

If they do, they will attempt to block nearly every piece of legislation proposed by President Biden.

Meanwhile, which party will control the Senate appears to be too close to call right now.

Also up for election are 36 state governors and other local officials. These are the people who will oversee the next presidential election - including, if they win, a number of Republican candidates who cast doubt on the 2020 result.

Donald Trump has been dropping heavy hints that he may run for president again. He's promised a big announcement next Tuesday.

There have been high numbers of postal votes for the midterm elections meaning that it could be a few days before the final results are known.

The time it took to count the votes in 2020 contributed to the rise of baseless conspiracy theories around election fraud.

These votes are held every two years and when they fall in the middle of a president's four-year term, they are called midterms.

In short, these elections are for Congress, which is made up of two parts - the House of Representatives (made up of 435 seats) and the Senate (100 seats).

Image source, .

Congress makes nationwide laws. The House decides which laws are voted on while the Senate can block or approve them, confirm appointments made by the president and, more rarely, conduct any investigations against him.

The Democratic Party has held the majority in both the House and the Senate for the past two years. That's been helpful for President Joe Biden to pass the laws he wanted. But that could all change today.

For more on the basics of today's vote, head here.

While US President Joe Biden was in Maryland, telling voters that it’s "democracy on the ballot" in today’s midterms, Republican former President Donald Trump was in Ohio last night, making a last-bid appeal to voters.

"I'm going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday 15 November at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,” he told the crowd, in what many saw as another hint that he'll run for office once more in 2024.

Earlier in his lengthy speech, he distanced himself from the US Capitol riot in January 2020, saying “all [he] did was make a speech, peacefully and patriotically”. But his false claims about election fraud after President Biden beat him in the 2020 election were largely seen as a driver for his supporters to storm the Capitol.

The former president also alleged once again that those investigating him - namely the Democratic-led House of Representatives - over the event are “political hacks and thugs”.

And on policy, he accused President Biden and the Democrats of not doing enough to stop migrants and drugs from entering the US across the Mexico border. Republicans will “defund the cartels”, he promised voters, while Democrats will “defund the police”.

Image source, EPA

US President Joe Biden has told voters that the US midterms are a crucial moment for Americans to defend democracy.

Speaking last night at Bowie State University in Maryland, he told the crowd their vote would help shape the decades to come.

"We know in our bones that our democracy's at risk and we know that this is your moment to defend it.

"This election is not a referendum, it's a choice. It's a choice between two very different visions of America.”

Biden criticised Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Florida Senator Rick Scott and said that Republicans would ditch social programmes like Medicare and Medicaid.

"They want to put veterans' benefits, everything, on the line," Biden said.

Biden encouraged Maryland voters to recall "the angry mob that stormed the US Capitol" on 6 January 2021, saying: "You can't be pro-American and pro-insurrection; It's real simple."

"Democracy is on the ballot," he added.

Image source, EPA

Hello and thanks for joining us as millions of Americans prepare to vote in today's midterm elections, with the balance of power in Congress at stake.

All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives, about a third (35 of 100 seats) of the Senate and key state governorships are all up for grabs.

While President Joe Biden himself is not up for re-election, midterms are often seen as a referendum on a president's leadership. His ability to pass laws, for example, will be stymied if Republicans take the House, as most projections expect.

It's going to be a long day - stay with us for the latest updates and analysis.