It's another dramatic night in US politics - and big questions remain for the future of the country
What happens if President Joe Biden loses control of Congress? When will we know the results? And will Americans trust them?
Millions of Americans have been voting today, and this page is dedicated to helping us understand what it all means
BBC correspondents including North America editor Sarah Smith and our senior North American reporter Anthony Zurcher are answering your questions - there's nothing too silly
The election campaign has been dominated by issues like abortion rights and Biden's handling of the economy
But the results will also affect the rest of the world, from the battle against climate change to disinformation
Thanks for all of your questions - and thanks also to our correspondents for the clear and concise explanation. We're ending our updates on this page for now as we focus on reporting the results of the midterm elections on our main live coverage.
Click here to read the latest developments and analysis from our experts.
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
E. Robbins, UK, asks: Please inform me about the Pennsylvania midterms. Especially, the condition of the Democratic candidate for senator.
Pennsylvania was a pivotal battleground in the 2020 presidential election, with Joe Biden’s victory there sealing his victory. Two years later, the state could decide which party controls Congress and who has the upper hand in the 2024 presidential election.
The Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz is probably the closest - and most closely watched - contest in these midterms.
The two candidates are vying for a seat held by Pat Toomey, a Republican who is retiring.
If the Democrat wins there, it would provide valuable insurance against a loss in one of the seats the party is defending, such as Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
In May, Fetterman suffered a stroke, and he spent much of the summer recuperating out of the public eye.
His health became a huge issue not only in Pennsylvania but in national politics last week, as he and Oz debated for the first and only time.
Image source, EPAFetterman was pictured taking selfies with supporters at an election eve rally
The Democrat, who acknowledged having audio processing difficulties, struggled at times to respond to questions.
Oz – a famous physician who hosted a television talk show for years - has faced his own questions during the campaign, including having to explain why Pennsylvanians should support someone who, until last year, lived in a mansion in neighbouring New Jersey.
This isn’t the only key race in Pennsylvania, however. There are a handful of close House of Representatives races, and there’s a contest for governor between Democrat Josh Shapiro and Doug Mastriano - the man who led the charge to challenge Donald Trump's 2020 defeat in the state.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from New York
Martyn Evans, from the UK asks: Can Roe get codified if Democrats win the Senate but lose the House?
To quickly recap for our readers: Roe v. Wade was a landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that gave women across the US the constitutional right to an abortion up until the point of fetal viability, about 22-25 weeks of pregnancy.
It held back attempts by anti-abortion lawmakers to ban the procedure. But the current, conservative-controlled Supreme Court struck down those protections in the summer, prompting Democrats to try and enshrine the right to an abortion through legislation in Congress.
Those efforts failed, however, because of procedural rules in the upper chamber of the US Senate that prevented the bill from passing.
So to answer your question Martyn, the answer is, simply: No. Democrats have no hope of passing a law codifying the right to an abortion through Congress if they do not control both chambers.
For a bill to actually become national law in the US, it must pass both chambers of the US Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Then, the president has to sign it.
So if Republicans, whose party platform is primarily anti-abortion, take over one or both chambers of Congress, there’s probably no chance of a bill codifying Roe v Wade’s protections making it to President Biden’s desk.
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
Kaye Vick, in the US, asks: Are there other possible Republican presidential candidates besides Donald Trump?
Not only are there possible Republican presidential candidates besides Donald Trump, there are already probable candidates who seemed poised to run no matter what the former president does in 2024.
Trump’s Vice-President, Mike Pence, is setting the stage for a bid, as is his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
Other potential candidates are exploring their options but, at the moment, seem inclined to wait to see whether the former president takes the plunge.
Most prominent among these is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose outspoken conservatism, particularly on social issues, is popular among the Republican base.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is also a possible contender. Both he and DeSantis are currently running for re-election in their states and could use victories in November as a launching pad for their national campaigns.
Give Trump’s popularity among Republican voters and a massive campaign war chest he’s built up over the past two years, he could effectively clear most of the Republican field if he decides to run.
If he stays out, however, expect a free for all similar to 2016, where dozens of candidates of varying prominence and potential jump into the race.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from New York
Karl, from Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK, asks whether there are any areas where the Democrats have a stronghold - or, Karl adds, are they just trying to mitigate the damage against them at this point?
Democrats’ power tends to be concentrated in and around major cities across the US, but in many states that lean Republican overall, those populations aren’t always enough to make up the difference.
In swing states like Michigan, it’s usually the major cities and surrounding suburbs, like the city of Detroit, that can deliver a victory to Democrats running at the state-wide or national level.
Democrats do have consistent strongholds across the country, much like Republicans do. In states like California, for example, Democrats control the governor’s mansion, state legislature, top state executive posts, both US Senate seats, and a majority of the US House seats. That means they can implement their agenda pretty much unimpeded by Republican opposition.
But even in “blue” states, there’s signs of trouble for the Democrats this year.
New York state, which people tend to think of as a Democratic state, has a surprisingly close race for governor after a Republican challenger made crime a central issue in his campaign.
The state also features several very competitive US House races, and Democrats could lose seats there.
Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, reporting from COP27 in Egypt
Laura Archer in the UK asks about how the results could impact the environment.
The US election results will be watched closely here at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, as the outcome will undoubtedly have impacts on global efforts to tackle climate change.
If the Democrats retain control of the Senate, they’re expected to try and build on the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
This bill earmarks a huge financial splurge to supercharge spending on green projects and would see US emissions fall significantly over the next eight years.
Republicans are unlikely to be able to overturn it if they win the Senate, but it would end Democratic hopes of any further steps.
More critical for the legislation are the down ballot races for governor which are happening in 36 states.
Decisions on how the IRA money will be spent will be made at state level, and many of the Republican candidates standing are keen on rolling back climate laws rather than building on them.
A big Republican win would also take some of the wind out of President Biden’s sails when he arrives here on Friday.
Delegates at COP27 are fearful that such an outcome might presage a Republican White House victory in 2024.
The memories of President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, and the slowdown in progress that followed, is very fresh here
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from New York
Alison in the US asks: Why do so many working class Americans believe President Joe Biden is in charge of the rising gas prices?
Most American voters experience the economy in the way that’s most immediate to them, like the cost of groceries, energy, and gasoline (or what our readers in the UK would call petrol).
And the cost of all those things have gone up this year due to inflation. It’s hard for the average person to understand the complex factors, both domestic and international, that contribute to the rise and fall of gasoline prices.
For most Americans, the cost of gasoline is perhaps the economic data point they are most often confronted with; they might drive by several gas stations each day and will probably visit them at least once a week.
At the end of the day, Americans tend to hold the president and the party in power in Washington responsible for their perceived quality of life, whether it be good or bad.
And with Biden in the White House, he is likely to take the blame as gasoline prices pinch Americans’ wallets.
The Biden administration knows this. In fact, Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, is reported to check gas prices obsessively.
Mike Wendling
Reporting from Chicago
Daniel, in the US, asks: How do you unite the country when the leadership of political parties believe different facts?
It’s the job of politicians and political parties to disagree. And yes, sometimes that means cherry-picking some facts or choosing to ignore others.
But there’s one key issue where “different facts” threaten the American system. It’s what US media call the “Big Lie” - the idea, pushed by Donald Trump, that the 2020 election was somehow “stolen” or “rigged”.
No evidence has turned up to support this, but that hasn’t stopped hundreds of candidates from following Trump’s lead.
We estimate that about a third of high-level Republican candidates have publicly pushed the “election denial” narrative. One expert told us that electing conspiracy theorists could be “fundamentally dangerous”.
It’s worth noting that many other Republicans reject the Big Lie.
At the same time, election denial candidates don’t see themselves as spreading conspiracy theories. As Audrey Trujillo, who’s running for New Mexico secretary of state, wrote me in an email: “I am an election defender, not denier!”
This - more than party affiliation - is the new fault-line in American politics: between people who think the election system is fair, and those who claim, contrary to evidence, that it’s fundamentally broken.
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
Image source, ReutersPaul Douglas, in Arizona, US, asks if the House and Senate both go Republican, what is the likelihood of the House starting impeachment proceedings against Biden and Harris?
There’s already talk about impeachment proceedings, although on what grounds the Republicans would do so is still up in the air.
One of the most common targets appears to be Joe Biden’s handling of the surge of undocumented migrants coming across the US-Mexico border.
Such a move would be unusual, however, as previous impeachment proceedings have focused on presidential misdeeds not questions of policy.
The bottom line, however, is that grounds for impeachment is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives says it is – and if there’s a will to impeach the president among the Republican base, the legislators will find a way.
It requires a two-thirds majority to convict and remove a president in the Senate, however, and even in the most rosiest midterm scenarios for Republicans they will not approach a majority of that size in the chamber.
So like the two Democratic attempts to impeach Donald Trump, any Republican move on Biden will ultimately be a fruitless venture unless there is significant bipartisan support for it.
Chelsea Bailey
Reporting from Washington
Are we likely to see a high turnout for these midterms, at a level seen for the presidential election, asks Jonathan Sims from the UK.
Great question, Jonathan! Typically, voter turnout in midterm elections tend to be lower than in the general presidential election.
But that could be changing. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many states have made it easier for Americans to vote by opening more polling locations, making it easier to submit an absentee ballot, and extending early voting hours.
As a result, many states are breaking records for voter turnout well before Election Day.
This year, voters in Georgia have shattered the all-time record for midterm early voting, casting more than 2.5 million votes before Election Day.
That number is just 100,000 votes shy of the 2.6 million early voters for the 2020 presidential election.
Mike Wendling
in Washington
And David Marsh in the UK asks: Why have so many Americans fallen for the unproven conspiracy theories that now abound in their country?
It’s easy to think that America has been totally overwhelmed by conspiracy theories and false rumours. But the evidence doesn’t always back that up, external.
What is true is that more people are talking about conspiracy theories, and they are arguably having a more dramatic impact on America than at any other point in recent memory.
The precise targeting power of social media is partly to blame. Technology makes it possible to specifically target people who are susceptible to conspiratorial beliefs, and we’ve found evidence this is exactly what’s happening.
Social networks are very good at whipping up emotion – that’s baked into how they function and retain eyeballs.
In a febrile political environment, it’s perhaps inevitable that some of these conspiracy believers may take drastic, even violent, action.
Your question also reminded me about something that Elon Musk recently tweeted, external: “Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission.”
But Twitter and other, more popular social networks prioritise emotion, not accuracy – and that’s a fundamental part of the problem.
Paul Adams
BBC Diplomatic correspondent
Sarah White, from Canada, asks: If the Republicans win the midterms, what are the likely impacts on Nato/Europe/Ukraine?
The war in Ukraine is, for now, something that most Americans agree on.
A Reuters/IPSOS poll in October found that 73% of Americans believed the US should maintain support for Ukraine, up more than 20 points from two months earlier.
Without American support – a staggering $60 billion has been appropriated so far – Ukraine would already have lost this war. Washington has played a key role in galvanising international partners.
But on the campaign trail, Republican politicians have been warning that American largesse has limits.
“Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine,” was the stark message from conservative firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene.
For now, Greene remains a fringe voice, but her more mainstream colleagues are sounding warnings.
“There should be no blank check on anything,” Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House Minority Leader, said in a recent interview, “We are $31 trillion in debt.”
The comments drew criticism from some fellow Republicans, but suggested an issue which currently enjoys a bipartisan consensus could become more contentious in a Republican-controlled Congress.
As Republicans seek to undermine and weaken President Biden, could support for Ukraine – one of his signature achievements – become a target?
Ukraine has bitter experience of being treated like a political football in Washington. With Donald Trump possibly poised to launch himself once more on the political stage, Kyiv may be bracing for another rocky ride.
Katy Watson
South America correspondent in São Paulo
Michelle Besar from Wyoming asks: What impact will the elections have on the Global South, namely South America?
There are quite a few parallels between Brazil and the US. Donald Trump lost in 2020, Jair Bolsonaro, nick-named "Trump of the Tropics", lost in 2022.
Trump’s supporters cried fraud – as did Bolsonaro’s most radical fans (although it has to be said, Bolsonaro, didn’t in the end, as feared).
But while neither Trump nor Bolsonaro succeeded in the elections, their influence is still deeply relevant in politics.
Many conservative lawmakers won seats in Congress in last month’s elections in Brazil and that will make president-elect Lula’s job much harder.
So in short, will Trumpism win in the midterms? And will that mean Bolsonarismo will do the same here in Brazil in the coming years?
More widely in South America though, the dynamic is changing – and with that, so is the influence of the US in this region.
Image source, Getty ImagesColombian Vice President Francia Marquez (L) is part of the country's first-ever left-wing government
There’s been a resurgence of the left, such as new presidents Gabriel Boric in Chile and Gustavo Petro in Colombia, as well of course Lula in Brazil.
So discussions on issues like climate change – one of the biggest topics in this region at the moment - will have more success if Democrats win power; with Republican dominance in US Congress, the influence of the United States feels far less relevant.
Chelsea Bailey
Reporting from Washington
Image source, ReutersJonathan, in Sweden, asks whether Trump could be elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives if the Republicans win back the chamber.
Jonathan, this question is quite the curveball. The short answer is… technically, yes - although it would be an incredibly unusual decision.
The constitution simply states that “the House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker and other officers”. This means, technically, that the Speaker of the House does not have to be a sitting member of the House of Representatives (weird, I know).
So, ostensibly, if Republicans took control of the House and wanted to install the former president as their leader, they could do that.
But it would be a huge departure from tradition as every previous Speaker has been an elected official, and constitutional scholars have said in the past that installing an outsider in the role would be “unthinkable”.
It’s also probably worth noting that though the Speaker is third in line for the presidency, the job is very procedural and focused on the day-to-day business of running the House.
Donald Trump is likely to have his sights set on the highest office in the land.
Mike Wendling
in Washington
Alison from the US asks: Why is conspiracy rife in America?
The easy answer is social media.
But of course false rumours predate Facebook by centuries. And some research, external indicates conspiracy theories haven’t become more popular over the last decade or so.
So why does it feel like fake news and false rumours are overwhelming the country?
For one thing, very important people are talking about them: Kayne West, Elon Musk, Donald Trump. Conspiracy theorists are running for office.
We’ve been tracking a group of candidates organised by a QAnon influencer.
More broadly, a BBC analysis of Republican candidates running for Congress or governor found that 175 - or 35% - have fully and publicly denied the outcome of the 2020 election.
Image source, ReutersAnd there’s another interesting twist - several big recent conspiracy theories are explicitly party political. Again that’s not exactly new, but it is something that America hasn’t grappled with in a long time.
Rumours about, say, the moon landing took aim at shadowy forces like the “military industrial complex”.
But recent debunked conspiracy theories – QAnon, Pizzagate and “Stop the steal” – have targeted specific politicians, mostly Democrats.
Chelsea Bailey
Reporting from Washington
Aileen in the UK asks: Won’t both Biden and Trump realistically be too old in 2024 to be running for president?
One election at a time, Aileen! Just kidding.
While you must be at least 35 years old to run for office, there is no age limit to be the commander in chief.
President Joe Biden is the oldest person elected at 78, while Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, was the youngest at 42.
But this question is something of an elephant in the room for today’s Republicans. Will Donald Trump - who's 76 - run in 2024? Only he truly knows, but he’s been dropping major hints at midterm campaign rallies across the country.
Over the weekend he promised supporters that they would find out his 2024 plans “very, very, very” soon. Biden has also said multiple times that he intends to run for re-election in 2024.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from New York
Komgbenda Emmanuel, in Nigeria, asks: If the Democrats lose in the Senate, would President Joe Biden find it difficult to return to the White House in 2024?
The most immediate impact of the Democratic Party losing the Senate is that it will become extremely difficult for President Biden to pass any major legislation through Congress. That could, indirectly, impact the presidential election in 2024.
Let me explain.
For federal legislation to become a law in the US, it must pass both the lower chamber of Congress, the US House of Representatives, and the upper chamber, the US Senate.
Then, the president must sign it into law. So if Republicans take over the US Senate in the 8 November election, they can simply block Democrats’ attempts to pass legislation on President Biden’s agenda.
In fact, the Republican Senate leadership could simply decide not to bring any of these bills up for a vote.
Image source, ReutersPresident Biden’s most immediate concern is that he won’t be able to pass anything through Congress if Republicans take over one or both chambers. That will impact his ability to govern.
Down the road, a Republican Senate could impact his chances in 2024.
Voters will be looking at Biden’s record of achievement, and if he isn’t able to deliver on major promises because Congress won’t pass them, he has fewer accomplishments to show to the American people as they choose their president.
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
Andrew Aldrich, in the UK, asks: How likely is it that losing Republican candidates will challenge results and potentially cause further civil unrest in the US?
After the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, politically motivated violence after a close election is no longer unimaginable.
By the BBC’s calculations, 35% of the Republican candidates for office fully and publicly deny Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
It’s a reasonable assumption that if they lose their own races by a close margin, they will challenge those results as well.
Whether simply failing to accept the results of an election and refusing to formally concede would be enough to trigger more civil unrest in the US is a more difficult question to answer, however.
The 6 January attack was the culmination of two months of heated rhetoric and false assertions by Donald Trump, a man with a uniquely powerful platform from which to speak and a particularly strong connection to his loyal supporters who were emotionally invested in his victory.
The US government, however, warned last week of a heightened potential for ideologically motivated attacks in the days around the election, however.
And as the recent attack on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband has shown, it takes only one individual to fan the flames of violence.
Chelsea Bailey
Reporting from Washington
Draga in Uganda asks: Why do midterm elections matter so much in the US democratic system?
While they don’t usually get as much attention as a presidential election, the midterms are really key to shaping the second half of a president’s four-year term in office.
Think of the midterms like Joe Biden’s presidential progress report.
The elections happen midway through his time in office and offer a chance for American voters to say if they’re satisfied with how he’s leading the country.
The midterms tend to be really tough on the party that’s currently in office - and they present an opportunity for the minority party (in this case, the Republicans) to take advantage of any feelings of dissatisfaction and pick up more seats in Congress.
Image source, ReutersHello and welcome to our live coverage dedicated to answering your questions about the US midterm elections.
It's a huge day - people across the US are casting their votes to determine who controls the House of Representatives and the Senate (collectively called Congress).
The outcome will have a massive impact on what laws Democratic President Joe Biden can pass in the final two years of his term.
We're being joined by the BBC’s North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher and US national reporters Kayla Epstein, Chelsea Bailey and Mike Wendling to answer some of your burning questions.
Stick with us.