NewsBite

US Midterm Elections 2018: US votes on Donald Trump’s future

THE energy and outrage of the Democrats has faced off against President Donald Trump’s appeal to fear as voters across America decided who should control the two US chambers of goverment.

Sarah Blake, James Cahill, staff writers, with AFP and AP
7 min read
November 7, 2018 - 10:47AM
News Corp Australia Network
Midterms a 'pivotal moment' for US' balance of power: Bruce Wolpe

THE energy and outrage of the Democrat campaign has been facing off against the brute strength of President Donald Trump’s GOP as voters across America decided who should control the two US chambers of goverment.

LIVE ELECTION COUNT BLOG: All the updates as they happen, here

The first round of mainland state polls have officially closed. The remainder will shutter their doors in the coming hours..

President Trump had a calm start to the day. His only contribution as voters turned out across the US for the midterm vote was to retweet polling locations and mild endorsements of a few key candidates. Then his restraint buckled.

The bellwether state of Florida — which is regarded as a ‘must win’ for any presidential campaign — is looking shaky for its Republican Governor.

MORE: Why Trump’s power is on the line

EXPLAINER: What’s at stake in the US midterm elections

MORE: Trump faces new midterm threat from women

It’s a retweet unlikely to have any impact on US voters at this late stage. They have headed to the polls en masse for the pivotal midterm election, which is seen as a referendum on the first two years of Trump’s volatile presidency.

All eyes are on the several dozen razor-thin races that will decide if Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives and Senate or if one or both chambers flip Democratic.

Voters wait in the line to vote at the Fiesta Mart in Houston. Picture: AP
Voters wait in the line to vote at the Fiesta Mart in Houston. Picture: AP

CONTROVERSY GRIPS GEORGIA

The southern US state of Georgia has had unusually large numbers of problems with voting machines and long lines, firing concerns by Democrats that Republican state office holders are subtly trying to suppress black votes.

The shortage of working machines in major counties of Georgia caused people to wait hours in line.

The governor race is highly contested, between Brian Kemp, who is supported by President Donald Trump, and Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who has campaigned with Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.

She hopes to become the first black woman to hold the office, in a state seen as part of the conservative Deep South.

Kemp is the secretary of the state of Georgia, meaning he runs the elections. Critics have noted the conflict of interest.

He has refused to recuse himself from the electoral role.

The history of the Deep South, laws acted for nearly 100 years after the end of slavery to disenfranchise blacks, cast a heavy shadow over the events.

Meanwhile, in North Dakota, Native Americans are also struggling to vote. Indian tribal advocates have for months warned that changes to local laws mean voters are now required to have a physical address, but most people living on reservations use post office boxes.

Voters line-up to cast their ballots at a polling station set up at Noonday Baptist Church for the mid-term elections in Marietta, Georgia. Picture: AFP
Voters line-up to cast their ballots at a polling station set up at Noonday Baptist Church for the mid-term elections in Marietta, Georgia. Picture: AFP

WHAT CONTROL OF CONGRESS MEANS

The US Constitution vested a great deal of power in the Congress. One of its most significant powers is oversight of the White House and the federal bureaucracy.

Congress, through their roughly 20 standing committees, can open investigations, hold public or private hearings, and subpoena people or documents when exercising their oversight role.

With Republicans controlling both houses, these oversight powers have largely gone unused over the past two years.

Should Democrats win control of the House, they will ‘win the gavels’ of the standing committees and thus gain control of all of Congress’s oversight powers. It is expected that they will open up investigations into dozens of potential scandals that have swirled around the Trump administration.

The change would be a fundamental shift in the balance of power in Washington.

- James Cahill

CELEBS VOTE: Stars implore Americans to vote

TODAY’S VOTE: When you can expect to see results in key races

THE LOWDOWN

With control of Congress at stake, all eyes are on several dozen close House and Senate races that will decide if Democrats or Republicans control the legislative bodies.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 seats in the 100-member Senate and 36 governorships are up for grabs as Americans in all 50 states cast their ballots.

Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to take control of the House for the first time since the Tea Party wave of 2010 and the latest polls give them a good chance to do so.

Republicans enjoy a slim 51-49 edge in the Senate and are favoured to hang on to their majority since Democrats are defending 26 seats on Tuesday and the Republicans only nine.

But with memories still fresh of Mr Trump’s upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race much uncertainty remains.

Weather could have some impact on voter turnout, with residents of several states in the Deep South and mid-Atlantic contending with thunderstorms, high winds and power outages. Anxious Republicans privately expressed confidence in their narrow Senate majority but feared the House was slipping away.

People vote in Henderson, Nevada. Electioneering authorities say they have detected no attempts to interfere with the electronic voting system. Picture: AFP
People vote in Henderson, Nevada. Electioneering authorities say they have detected no attempts to interfere with the electronic voting system. Picture: AFP

ROCKY ROAD

Election day has not all been plain sailing. In Texas, an election supervisor and judge was forced to resign after being caught on video screaming at a confused black voter.

And, amid warnings of potential poll violence, a Florida polling place was put on lockdown for about 40 minutes after a man with a gun was seen in a nearby carpark. Palm Bay Police Lt. Steve Bland said passers-by getting into their cars saw the man sitting in his vehicle with a gun on his lap. They called 911 and police arrived as the man was driving out.

Bland said the man was in mid-eighties and did not make any threats. He says the gun wasn’t loaded.

Bland said the lockdown was a precaution, and the man was taken for a mental health evaluation but he was not arrested.

But a man in Washington, Pennsylvania, has been arrested for threatening to shoot up a polling station. After being told he had not registered to vote, he became agitated — threatening officials he would get a gun and return. He was arrested and charged with terroristic threats.

Campaign employees vie for attention in Florida. Picture: AFP
Campaign employees vie for attention in Florida. Picture: AFP

Early reports across the board suggested voter turn out was high, despite inclement weather.

In some states, long lines and malfunctioning machines marred the early hours of voting in some precincts across the US.

Some of the biggest problems were in Georgia, a state with a hotly contested gubernatorial election, where some voters reported waiting up to three hours to vote. And, despite reports of numerous malfunctioning voting machines, the US Department of Homeland Security says that it has not detected any increase in hacking attempts.

More than 40 states use computerised voting machines that are more than a decade old or are no longer manufactured. Reports of machines being supplied without power chords and of non-functioning hand-held scanners being supplied to officials are widespread.

Members of the orthodox Jewish community fill out ballot papers at a polling centre in Brooklyn. Picture: AP
Members of the orthodox Jewish community fill out ballot papers at a polling centre in Brooklyn. Picture: AP

TRUMP’S TRIBULATIONS

More than anything on this Election Day in America, in a midterm contest like no other before it, voters cast their ballots with one man in mind: President Donald Trump.

Trump has sought to counter what some have called a ‘blue wave’ of Democrat voters by stoking anger and fear in his base.

A resident of Mecklenburg County in Charlotte, North Carolina casts her ballot. Picture: AFP
A resident of Mecklenburg County in Charlotte, North Carolina casts her ballot. Picture: AFP

RELATED: The apocalyptic drive of Trump’s evangelical voters

In recent weeks, he’s put the spotlight on a caravan of Central American migrants fleeing poverty and violence that he calls “an invasion” of criminals and terrorists. He ran an advertisement about immigration so racially incendiary that all three major cable news networks, including Fox News, either refused to air it or eventually decided to stop showing it.

Trump returned to the White House in the wee hours of the morning after headlining final campaign rallies in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, and planned to spend Election Day at the White House but out of public view. He and first lady Melania Trump voted in New York via absentee ballot several weeks ago, the White House said.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump would spend the day making telephone calls, monitoring congressional and gubernatorial races and meeting with his political team. In the evening, family and friends were joining Mr Trump and the first lady in the White House residence to watch the election returns.

A pedestrian passes the new mural of Democratic US Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke in Austin, Texas. Picture: AFP
A pedestrian passes the new mural of Democratic US Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke in Austin, Texas. Picture: AFP

DEMOCRAT DRAMA

Democrats were more vocal as former President Barack Obama took to Twitter to implore people to vote. “Today is the day. Today, it’s your turn to raise your voice to change the course of this country for the better. So make it count.”

RELATED: Russians crow over US Civil War talk

Earlier in the week he spoke about the elections as “the most important of our lifetimes”.

“When we’ve been at such crossroads before, Americans have made the right choice. Not because we sat back and waited for history to happen — but because we marched, and mobilised, and voted. We made history happen.”

US Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke arrives to cast his vote in Texas. Picture: Getty Images/AFP
US Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke arrives to cast his vote in Texas. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Hillary Clinton, who went down to Mr Trump in the 2016 election tweeted: “For the past two years, we’ve watched this administration attack and undermine our democratic institutions and values. Today, we say enough.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden added: “This election is bigger than politics. Today we have a chance to reclaim our American ideals and take this country back.”

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the midterm elections were a referendum on Republican efforts to scrap “Obamacare”.

People vote beside the beach at the Venice Beach Lifeguard station in California. Picture: AFP
People vote beside the beach at the Venice Beach Lifeguard station in California. Picture: AFP
Rain has lashed the eastern seaboard of the US, which could affect voter turnout. Picture: AFP
Rain has lashed the eastern seaboard of the US, which could affect voter turnout. Picture: AFP

The California Democrat told a press conference that the election was “about health care.”

Ms Pelosi credited Democratic politicians and activists across the country with helping to fend off attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act following 2016 election results that left Republicans in control of Congress and the White House.

She said that after 2016 Democrats “didn’t agonise, we organised“, forecasting Democratic victories across the country, but with a small overall margin of victory. She predicted that as few as 25,000 votes nationwide could swing the results.

Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger casts her vote in Richmond, Virginia. Picture: Getty Images/AFP
Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger casts her vote in Richmond, Virginia. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

PUSH FOR THE POLLS

Both parties have pulled out all the stops to drive voters to the polls and Mr Trump embarked on a bruising schedule of election rallies over the past few weeks.

“The midterm elections used to be, like, boring,” Mr Trump said at a raucous rally Monday in Cleveland, Ohio. “Now it’s like the hottest thing.”

Early voting totals would appear to support this.”

Even Minneapolis buses were encouraging prospective voters. Picture: Getty Images/AFP
Even Minneapolis buses were encouraging prospective voters. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

According to Michael McDonald of the US Elections Project, 38.4 million Americans cast their ballots early compared with 27.4 million in the 2014 midterm election.

Voting in Miami, Eloisa Alvarez said this election was “super important.”

“I think, like the TV stations have been saying, it’s a referendum on the Trump presidency,” Alvarez said.

Add your comment to this story

To join the conversation, please Don't have an account? Register

Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout

More related stories

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/us-midterm-elections-2018-us-votes-on-donald-trumps-future/news-story/509be5ddf980fe12ec3b3168c9dcba26