US Midterm ELECTION FAQ

All Your Questions Answered

On 3 November 2026, Americans will vote for all 435 voting members of the House of Representatives and 35 senators (out of 100), who together will make up the 120th United States (US) Congress.

Elections to elect members of Congress take place every two years, because under the US Constitution, House members serve two-year terms and senators serve staggered six-year terms. When these elections fall in the middle of the president's four-year term of office, they are called the midterms.

The outcome of the midterms decides which political party -- Republicans or Democrats -- controls the US Congress for the rest of the president's remaining term.

These elected representatives create and pass federal laws that apply nationwide.

All 435 members of the House -- which is the lower chamber of Congress-- will be elected after serving their fixed terms of two years.

Laws are proposed and debated in the House. To gain control of the House, a party needs to breach the halfway mark with a minimum of 218 seats. Currently, US President Donald Trump's Republican Party narrowly holds a majority with 219 seats.

In addition, elections will also take place for 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate, which is the upper chamber. Senators, who approve or block proposed laws, serve six-year terms. 

States also schedule many of their own contests on the same day, so a single ballot can run from a US Senate seat down to a county sheriff.

• Affordability remains the number one issue in these elections. Inflation in the US was running at 3.4 per cent in August, but the political problem goes beyond the headline rate, with voters paying more for gasoline, housing, electricity, groceries and borrowing. Pew found 29 per cent of voters spontaneously named an economic concern when asked what they most wanted congressional candidates to discuss -- more than three times any other category. Trump's tariffs feed directly into the debate, with opponents blaming them for higher costs while the administration argues they protect American industry and raise revenue.
• The US-Israeli war in Iran has also become a domestic pocketbook issue. Emerson's September survey rated the Iran war the single most important issue among those it tested, while Reuters/Ipsos found only 34 percent approving of Trump's handling of the conflict. Republican candidates in several competitive races have called for the fighting to end, and four Republican senators joined Democrats in a September vote seeking to rein it in.
• Trump's immigration policy, a signature political strength, has become more complicated. The president returned to office promising mass deportations, but controversy over aggressive ICE operations and other enforcement tactics has eroded support. Reuters/Ipsos found 55 per cent disapproved of Trump's handling of immigration. Marist, meanwhile, found Democrats and Republicans essentially level on which party voters trusted more on the issue -- a striking change from the clear Republican advantage of 2024.
• The president himself is an issue -- including how he uses the office. Trump has explicitly asked voters to behave as though he were on the ballot, making the election partly a referendum on his second term. Government ethics ranked second behind the economy in Pew's open-ended survey, cited by nine per cent of voters. A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll found 97 pe rcent of Americans believed there was at least some corruption in the federal government, while 66 per cent said they had little or no trust in Trump to avoid using the presidency to benefit his family's businesses.
• Artificial intelligence has jumped out of the laptop and into the campaign trail. Voters worry about job losses, safety and regulation -- but increasingly also about the giant data centres needed to power AI. Almost half of Americans told Pew they were very concerned about AI's role in the economy, while 50 per cent said data centres were mostly bad for household energy costs and 54 per cent said they were bad for the environment. AI regulation scored surprisingly highly in Emerson's September survey, just behind immigration and gas prices. 
• Not every familiar American culture-war issue has dominated the 2026 campaign, but several remain potent dividing lines. Transgender rights continue to produce fierce arguments over participation in women's sports. Health care is also a perennial election concern, encompassing the cost of insurance and medicines, and access to coverage. These issues have not necessarily driven the national midterm campaign as strongly as affordability, Iran or immigration, but they remain powerful mobilizers for parts of both parties' coalitions.

After Election Day, local officials 'canvass' votes and conduct post‑election audits to confirm the validity of ballots and accuracy of vote totals. This process typically takes anywhere from several days to a few weeks. 

After counting, canvassing, and auditing votes cast, state election officials end the process by certifying election results within deadlines ranging from two to five weeks after Election Day. Certification attests that the final election results are complete and accurate.

A new Congress will convene on January 3, 2027, as mandated by the 20th Amendment of the US Constitution, unless they decide on another date. The House and Senate of the 120th Congress will convene for the first time that same day.

The Congress, alongside the presidency and the judiciary, is one of the three arms of the government. Its control matters in shaping the next two years of Trump's time in the White House. 

Currently, both the Senate and the House are under Republican control, but with a slender majority. Trump's party has 218 seats in the House-- the minimum number needed to control it. The party also has the support of one independent member, who votes with them.

In the Senate, the Republicans have 53 seats. To change the makeup of the upper chamber, Democrats will need to win 51 seats. If the number stops at 50, a tie-breaking vote by the vice-president - currently a Republican - will determine the future of the chamber.

If opposition Democrats manage to win control of at least one chamber, they will gain power to control which laws pass on the floor.

Republican President Donald Trump's low approval ratings, combined with voter concern over high prices and dissatisfaction with the Iran war, have led many analysts and opinion polls to predict significant Democratic gains in the November 3 midterm elections.

But a Reuters report pointed out that several factors, including fewer competitive House races, lower voter turnout, and the Republicans' monetary advantage, could prevent Democrats from turning those favourable political conditions into a landslide, even if the party ultimately makes gains in Congress.
 

Registered US citizens aged 18 and older can vote.

Each state has its own voter ID rules, with most requiring voters to bring an ID to vote in person. If you are a registered voter and have a voter registration card, you are not required to bring it when you vote. Your state may require you to show a photo ID like a driver's license, state ID, or passport. You might be required to present other forms of ID like your birth certificate or Social Security card.

You might be able to vote even without an ID. Some states may ask you to sign a form affirming your identity. Other states will let you cast a provisional ballot when there is a doubt about a voter's eligibility. Your provisional ballot will be kept separately until your eligibility is investigated. You might have to return to show an acceptable ID within a few days or the ballot will not count.

Majority of voters live in states that allow voting by mail. Some states require a valid reason, such as travel, work or illness, to receive a ballot. Several states have deadlines to request mail ballots that are less than two weeks before the election day.