After an eventful day of voting that will decide which party will take control of the United States’ Senate and the House of Representatives, polls have begun closing. The first three states where polls were closing by 7:30 PM ET are North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia

Several websites of the state of Mississippi went offline on election day after a Russian hacker group asked its followers on Telegram to attack the state and render its websites offline.

The web address the attack has been asked to concentrate on is a part of the website of the Mississippi State secretary, which provides crucial information to voters on election day.

The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Facebook account posted the message “several state websites have experienced issues today, including the Secretary of State’s office” at around 4 PM.

An official of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told reporters that the CISA has been in contact with officials of Maricopa County in Arizona over issues regarding vote tabulation. 

The official also assured reporters that this was not out of the ordinary and none of the issues faced so far this general election can account for raising a question against election integrity. The official commented, “We’ve seen a few of these today, as happens on every election day. None of this is out of the ordinary”.

“One of the great things about Arizona, it is an all paper ballot state,” the official further added.

John Tobler, the deputy secretary of communications and outreach at the Louisiana Department of State, reported that a polling station in Louisiana was moved from one school to another on Tuesday as a result of a bomb threat.

According to Tobler, the threat was made against the school in Kenner Discovery, which is roughly 20 minutes outside of New Orleans. Audubon Elementary, a school located in the same precinct, will serve as the new polling place.

Apparently, Kenner Discovery also received a bomb threat five days prior, according to a spokeswoman of the Kenner Police Department. On that day, the campus was searched by local police and fire services as middle school and high school students were evacuated.

Almost 3,600 Philadelphia mail-in ballots risk being rejected

Nearly 3,600 mail-in ballots could be rejected due to erroneous information, missing dates, or missing secrecy envelopes, an election official in Philadelphia claimed, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Over the weekend, an additional 200 ballots were added. Of the 3,600 mail-in ballots, about 250 have been cured. People can still cast provisional ballots today if they were unable to cure their ballots at city hall.

More than 3,400 mail-in ballots, according to Philadelphia election officials on Saturday, might be rejected for having wrong information, missing dates, or missing secrecy envelopes.

Lisa Deeley, the chairwoman of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, disclosed the names of the impacted voters and asked them to receive new ballots right away.

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After the Texas Supreme Court last week prohibited local election officials from counting ballots with missing or incorrect dates on the return envelope, Deeley took the action that she did.

“I am extremely disappointed in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision with regard to undated and incorrectly dated ballots. Handwritten dates are not material and the lack of such a date should not be a reason to disenfranchise a voter,” Deeley stated.

For months, there has been legal contention over Pennsylvania’s requirement that voters sign and include a handwritten date on their ballot return envelope. Additionally, on Friday, a number of Pennsylvania organisations, including the League of Women Voters and the state NAACP chapters, filed a lawsuit in federal court opposing the state’s decision to not consider votes that were cast on earlier dates.

A missing or erroneous date is described in the lawsuit as “a meaningless technicality,” and it is contended that excluding a vote on those grounds is unlawful under federal civil rights statutes.

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More than 45 million pre-election ballots

According to information from election officials, Edison Research, and Catalist, more than 45 million pre-election ballots have already been cast in the 47 states with data available as voters walk to the polls on Election Day.

In all states with data available for the last three cycles, pre-election voting has outpaced the 2018 pace. It’s still too early to predict whether overall turnout will match 2018 levels, given voting habits may have altered recently.

With more than 5.4 million pre-election votes cast, Texas continues to lead the nation. More than 4.9 million votes have been cast in Florida, and more than 4.7 million in California. The only other states with more than 2 million votes cast thus far are Georgia (over 2.5 million) and North Carolina (over 2.1 million).

As additional mail is sent, voters drop off their votes, and election officials update their tallies, the number of ballots cast will continue to rise.

Voter intimidation in North Carolina

According to an early incident report from the state board of elections, in North Carolina, possible harassment at polling stations is being reported. While walking from a voting site to their class, students in New Hanover were reportedly harassed. There are also reports of an election official being “angrily” confronted by an observer. 

Another observer was allegedly “following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming them in Columbus County, election officials said. 

Other reports said that voters in Wake waiting in the curbside were being photographed as they waited to cast ballots. The board also reported that electioneers in Harnett were allegedly “videotaping voters coming and going.”

Pat Gannon, a spokesperson for the board has assured that the incidents are “isolated” and law enforcement is monitoring them.

Voter intimidation in Arizona

According to the secretary of state’s office in Arizona, at least 18 cases of alleged voter intimidation have been reported across the state since the start of early voting on October 12. All of these cases have been reported to local and federal law enforcement agencies. 

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Some voters have described feeling intimidated at ballot drop box sites when voting early. A few have even complained that they felt that they were being watched with binoculars. There are also reports of voters being approached by people claiming to be with “election security” who have taken pictures of their license plates and vehicles. 

“Voters should be able to cast their ballot without fear of intimidation,” said Sophia Solis, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is the Democratic candidate for governor in Arizona.

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Philadelphia’s double vote-catching process 

Election officials in Philadelphia voted Tuesday morning to reinstate a procedure designed to capture double votes, which will probably slow down the release of results from the state’s largest city.

If the crucial US Senate contest between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz is close, the decision to reinstate the frequently cumbersome poll book reconciliation procedure might draw national attention to Philadelphia.

To make sure people did not vote twice, the method compares mail-in ballots with poll books on election day.

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Following a lawsuit by a Republican party that claimed Philadelphia was courting multiple votes with a plan to reduce back on poll book reconciliation, the Philadelphia city commissioner voted 2-1 in favour of the resolution early on Tuesday. Even while Judge Anne Marie B. Coyle rejected the Republican organization’s appeal, she called the local election authorities’ decision to alter the vote book procedure “erroneous” in her ruling.

Mercer County, New Jersey machine troubles

Due to a technical issue with the voting machines, voters in Mercer County, New Jersey, will have to cast their ballots by hand on Tuesday morning. Princeton, Trenton, Ewing, and Lawrence Township are located in the county.

“No one will be disenfranchised and we are working on fixing the issue at present. It may delay results but we will make sure everyone votes,” Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello said.

Also read: In Tennessee, amendment on ballot to do away with slavery for good 

Covello would not rule out the potential that the votes cast manually could still be counted Tuesday night, despite the fact that the results will likely be announced later than normal.

Dominion, the manufacturer of the equipment, and other IT specialists are coming to the county to address the issue. Voters can get assistance from poll workers as they navigate the procedure.

“There is an issue with our Dominion scanners not reading throughout the county. There is a slot on the top of the scanner and voters can vote — and are voting manually. No voter should walk away. They can vote manually,” Covello added.

Also read: 2022 US Midterms: What happens if Republicans regain control of the House, Senate?

The voters

Voting is open to all adults in the United States. For those with criminal convictions, some states grant exclusions, while others demand voter registration.

Additionally, Americans can cast early ballots in person or by mail.

Every voter in eight US states and the District of Columbia receive a ballot via mail. Although practically anybody can participate in some early voting, several other states demand a justification while others permit everyone to do so (in person or by mail).

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The candidates

The Senate and the House are the two legislative branches of the US Congress.

Senators are elected to the Senate, where they hold office for six years. Every two years, there are federal elections. A third of the Senate is up for election every two years, and the seats are divided into three classes. The Class III senators will be up for election in 2022. Check out Inside Elections’ ratings of the races.

Currently, with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Senate, one of Congress’s legislative bodies, is split evenly. In contrast, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi‘s control of the House, the other legislative body, is tenuous at best. 35 of the 100 Senate seats and all 435 House seats will be up for election in 2022. In addition, governors will be chosen in 36 of the 50 states.

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Balance of power

Political parties are more powerful when they win most seats in the House or Senate and take control of those bodies. The party in charge determines which bills will be put to the vote on the floor and has authority over the committees that draught legislation. The party holding the majority in the House—at least 218 seats—selects the Speaker of the House, provided that the party can unite behind a single candidate. The party with 51 votes in the Senate holds the majority.

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Key issues

The Republican Party, commonly known as the GOP, is recognised for downplaying the climate issue, opposing laws governing guns, being more conservative when it comes to immigration, and advocating for national restrictions on abortion.

For instance, the Republican Party’s controversial former president Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017.

Several states in the US have proposals that would outlaw abortion, led by the GOP.

Republicans also support the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear guns, and Trump and other GOP leaders have opposed attempts to change the nation’s gun restrictions in the wake of horrific murders.

Also read: US midterms 2022: Joe Biden hopeful Democrats will hold onto House and Senate

Swing states

In the 2022 midterms, six states will dominate the political landscape: The five states that President Joe Biden won in 2020 are Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

The control of the Senate, the House, and the state governments will be decided by a number of crucial races in each of these states. Not just within their boundaries but also nationwide, what occurs in these states will have an impact on topics like abortion rights, economic policy, education, and climate catastrophe.