First polling stations open in U.S. 2022 mid-term elections

Polling stations for the U.S. mid-term elections opened in eleven U.S. states on the East Coast as of 6:00 am (11:00 GMT), with Vermont being the only state in which the polling stations opened an hour earlier. 

Voters in the United States are casting ballots in federal and statewide races, and the legislative majorities are at stake in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

Thirty-five of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate and all 435 House seats are up for election this year. 

The two chambers of Congress are currently controlled by Democrats, but their Republican rivals seek to gain control of both, and polls indicate that they are poised to win the House and possibly the Senate as well.

The Democrats control the House of Representatives by eight seats, while the Senate is split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris representing the tie-breaking vote in her role as president of the upper chamber of Congress.

Roughly four in ten Americans, 41 per cent told pollsters that they voted or planned to vote before Election Day.

Residents in the western United States, women, and those above 65 years of age are more likely to vote early. 

As of Monday evening, more than 43.5 million Americans had already voted – nearly 20 million in-person and 23.5 million via mail-in ballots – according to the United States Election Project.

Last month, President Joe Biden himself voted early in his home state of Delaware, alongside his 18-year-old granddaughter Natalie Biden, who is voting for the first time in a national election.

According to the averages of surveys gathered by poll aggregator Real Clear Politics (RCP), Republicans are likely to win 225 House seats, well over the 218 needed to secure a majority.

House Democrats are likely to win 173 seats, while 37 are in the toss-up category, according to the RCP. 

In the Senate races, the Republicans are forecast to end up with at least 48 seats to the Democrats’ 46, with six races still too close to call, the RCP data shows.