Senate, House control at stake in midterms

Election officials across the country are preparing for disruptions as voters cast ballots today in the first national election since 2020, when former President Donald Trump refused to accept the results and an angry mob later stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent their certification.

President Joe Biden says democracy is on the ballot. So is his record and the fate of his agenda for the rest of his presidential term.

Biden’s approval rating has been hovering in the low 40s in recent months, and it’s expected to be a drag on Democratic candidates down the ballot.

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What’s open on Election Day?:Are banks, post offices and stores open? Here’s what you need to know.

When do polls open (and close)?

Polling places are now open on the East Coast, with few problems reported so far. Voters in Georgia, New Jersey and Ohio began casting ballots early this morning, along with a slew of other states.

Voting hours on Election Day vary depending on where you live. Looking for what time polling places are open in your state? We’ve got you covered. Here’s a guide with the full rundown of when polling places open and when they close by state.

Dr. Oz doesn’t answer when asked if he will accept results

After voting in Montgomery County, Dr. Mehmet Oz told reporters he’s proud of the campaign he’s run and that “Pennsylvania is  going to send a message to Washington.”

That message is one of balance, not extremism, he said.

After his brief remarks, Oz did not answer questions about whether he would accept election results “no matter what” or offer a reaction to his opponent’s recent federal lawsuit to have mail-in ballots counted regardless of date discrepancies.

—Candy Woodall

Election week … again?

The Senate race in Georgia could once again keep the nation waiting for results – not just on the victor in the race, but on which party will control the Senate. If the race is close, it could head to a recount, and if neither candidate gets a majority of votes, the race will head to a run-off.

That’s what happened in 2020, when the state’s two Senate seats went to Democrats in runoff elections, giving Democrats the majority.

“Georgia is completely up for grabs,” said Barry Burden, political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s possible that Georgia could hold the power, the balance of power in the Senate again, and we will have to wait.”

Georgia is not the only state that may have Americans waiting for results. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada all have tight races and varying rules for counting and recounting. USA TODAY’s Joey Garrison sorts out the races that could have us waiting past election night before winners and losers are decided.

– Donovan Slack

What are the midterm elections? Here’s what to know about them and why they’re important

Voter turnout expected to be slightly lower than 2018

More than 40 million voters had already cast ballots before the first polling place opened Tuesday morning, according to the United States Elections Project at the University of Florida. A little more than half that total were mail-in ballots, and the rest voted early in person.

The number surpassed the total for the 2018 midterms, when roughly 39 million voted before Election Day. The vote total in the election overall that year amounted to 118.6 million, accounting for a turnout rate of about 50%.

Michael McDonald, founder of the Elections Project, expects turnout this year to be 49%.

“This would be slightly lower than the 50% turnout rate in the 2018 election,” McDonald said.

‘Harder for them to cheat that way’:GOP voters hold onto mail ballots fearing rigged election

Disinformation disruption:Conspiracies about voting machines have Nevada’s Nye County set for rare ballot hand count

With 239.5 million estimated eligible voters, that’s around 117 million expected to vote – with as many as 74 million of them set to hit polling places in person Tuesday.

“That’s still a fairly healthy turnout rate for modern midterm elections,” McDonald said in an analysis. “Aside from 2018 –which had the highest midterm turnout rate since 1914 –the last time we experienced midterm turnout rates in the mid-40 percent range was the 1960s.”

— Donovan Slack

When do the polls close in my state?:A complete breakdown for Election Day 2022.

Who is running for president in 2024?

What happens in midterm elections today will impact what happens in the presidential election in 2024.

If Democrats keep the Senate and House, President Joe Biden can continue furthering his agenda, providing a longer record for him and other Democrats to run on (if he decides to for re-election).

If Republicans take over the House, they have already promised to launch a litany of investigations of the Biden administration that could damage Democrats’ record (and Biden’s legacy). If they take the Senate, they can block Supreme Court nominations and block legislation.

While no one has declared their intentions to run for president yet, some hopefuls will be on the ballot today and others have been out on the trail stumping for others in the runup to the midterms.

• In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is widely rumored to be con templating a run. He is favored to win his re-election bid today.
• In South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott is also expected to win re-election -and possibly run for president in 2024.
• Former Vice President Mike Pence campaigned in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia and is releasing a book and doing a press tour next week.

There are, of course, Biden and former President Donald Trump who are circling the idea of a possible rematch in 2024. Trump said Monday he is planning a big announcement next week.

Biden, who turns 80 on November 20, hasn’t disclosed his plans. Other Democrats waiting in the wings are Vice President Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. USA TODAY’s David Jackson has all the tea here. But, but, but first – the midterms.

Experts warn voters to be ‘vigilant, but not paranoid’

As America braces for its first national election since 2020 – as Jan. 6 insurrectionists remain on trial, as candidates nationwide deny the results from presidential election, as the president warns of a “path to chaos” – experts on voting and extremism want to make two things clear.

First, voting in the United States remains extraordinarily safe.

Second, as millions of Americans still seethe over the 2020 election and cast doubt on the fairness of the electoral process, spurred on by lies and disinformation, the possibility remains of tense confrontations or even violence at polling places.

It’s a new normal for everyone – election officials, law enforcement officers and individual voters – who should be on alert, but not panicked, as they cast their votes, said Jared Holt, a senior researcher at the think tank the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and an expert on domestic extremism.

“When it comes to risks at the polls, I keep telling people to be vigilant, but not paranoid,” Holt said. ”Vigilance means being aware of some of the different things that you might see at polling locations and how to respond to those, whereas paranoia looks like believing armed goons are waiting outside your polling station now and maybe you just don’t want to go vote at all, because you’re worried about it.”

— Will Carless, Bill Keveney, and Trevor Hughes

Fetterman sues to have thousands of mail-in ballots counted

PHILADELPHIA – As all eyes are on pivotal Pennsylvania, where the U.S. Senate race here could decide which party controls the upper chamber, Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman is suing in federal court to ensure mail-in ballots with incorrect or missing dates will be counted.

His campaign is joined in the lawsuit by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Their filing late Monday comes after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 last week on a decision that ordered counties to set aside and not count mailed ballots with missing or invalid dates on their outer envelopes.

Mailed ballots tend to be sent by Democrats and the state Supreme Court order would prevent thousands of votes from being counted in a tight Senate race that polls show is neck-and-neck.

“The Date Instruction imposes unnecessary hurdles that eligible Pennsylvanians must clear to exercise their most fundamental right, resulting in otherwise valid votes being arbitrarily rejected without any reciprocal benefit to the Commonwealth,” attorneys for Fetterman and the Democratic committees said in their lawsuit. “The date on a mail ballot envelope thus has no bearing on a voter’s qualifications and serves no purpose other than to erect barriers to qualified voters exercising their fundamental constitutional right to vote.”

— Candy Woodall

Can independents vote in midterms?

Um, yes. All voters are eligible to cast ballots in today’s elections. Party affiliation can be a determining factor during primary elections to decide who each party’s nominee will be in the general election. Primary elections were held across the country earlier this year to select which candidates are running to be elected today.

Peeling back the curtain:How and why we cover the midterm elections, from the editors