WASHINGTON.- Voting is underway across the United States on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, as more than 230 million eligible voters decide who controls Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency, with all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 Senate seats and 36 governorships on the ballot. More than 51 million people had already voted early or by mail before Election Day, passing the early-vote total recorded in the 2022 midterms, according to figures reported by Al Jazeera.
The first polls opened in Vermont at 5 a.m. Eastern Time, followed at 6 a.m. by New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Kentucky, with Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York opening between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., Ohio and North Carolina at 6:30 a.m. and Michigan at 7 a.m. Polls close in waves through the evening, from 6 p.m. Eastern in parts of Indiana and Kentucky to about 1 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday in Alaska's Aleutian Islands, so the first results will arrive Tuesday night but close races may take hours or days to call.
Democrats need three House seats and four Senate seats
Republicans currently hold both chambers, with a 53 to 47 majority in the Senate and the House at the 218-seat majority mark. Democrats need a net gain of three seats to take the House and four to take the Senate, which is why the day will be settled less by the national mood than by a handful of close races, above all the Senate contests in Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Alaska and Iowa, where the final New York Times and Siena University polls showed Democrats ahead in most and effectively tied in Iowa. At 50-50 in the Senate, Vice President JD Vance would break ties for Republicans.
The election is widely read as a referendum on Donald Trump's second term. Forecasts published before Election Day projected about 241 Democratic seats in the House, above the 218 needed for a majority, while the Senate remained a toss-up. A storm crossing the country could also bring a wet Election Day to the central United States, and flooding has already moved a polling center and closed a drop box in Archuleta County, Colorado, ABC News reported.
What to watch as results come in
News organizations such as the Associated Press will analyze vote counts and determine when a race can be called, but officials caution that the first reported results will not necessarily mean a winner has been announced. Mail and provisional ballots will continue to be counted after Tuesday, and in states where the margin is narrow, recounts and late-arriving ballots could delay the final picture for days.
Read more on The Wire Post: Donald Trump and the Democrats Face a Long Election Night: When the 2026 Midterm Results Will Actually Be Known, Donald Trump Faces Court Fight Over ICE Agents at Polling Places on the Eve of the Midterms and Donald Trump and Democrats Close With Dueling Final Rallies on the Eve of the Midterm Elections.
Fuentes: Al Jazeera, Indian Express y Associated Press vía reportes del 3 de noviembre de 2026.