International Desk: Voting in the mid-term elections has begun across the United States today. Analysts believe that this election can determine the political fate of US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Polling stations are opening one by one, according to a BBC live report. Voting has already started in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming.
Deutsche Welle says that voting has started in the country at 5 pm Bangladesh time. It will end after next 12 hours. However, it may take a few days or even weeks in some cases to get the final results.
More than 4.3 million Americans have already voted early in the midterm elections, according to the US Election Project, an early voting monitoring organization.
Voters elect members to both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Out of this, all seats of the House of Representatives, i.e. 435 members will be elected. And out of 100 seats in the Senate, 35 are going to be elected.
Democrats currently hold majorities in both houses of Congress. Control of either could go to Republicans in the midterm elections. In that case, in the last two years of Biden’s term, Democrats may have trouble getting various issues passed in Congress.
On Monday, Biden and Trump entered the field to attract voters at the last moment. Biden called the election “very important” for American democracy.
Speaking Monday at Bowie State University, not far from Washington, DC, Biden said, “We feel in our hearts that our democracy is under threat today, and we also know that now is the time for you to protect it.”
Meanwhile, at a rally in Ohio, Trump urged his supporters to vote Republican. He then said that he is going to make a big announcement next week. Through this, it is assumed that he will officially announce his name for the 2024 presidential election. Trump also said that the announcement could come on November 15.
On his way back to the White House after Monday’s rally, Biden told reporters he believed Democrats could retain control of the Senate. And retaining control of the House of Representatives can be ‘difficult’ In that case, his life in Washington could become ‘more difficult’.
The results of the midterm elections could determine Biden’s political fate. Because, depending on this, Biden can decide whether to run for president again in 2024 or not.
If Democrats lose control of both houses of Congress, Biden will be effectively powerless for the final two years of his term. In that case, Biden will not be able to do anything about the issues of climate change, US assistance in the war in Ukraine.
Republicans do not want to continue the US financial and military aid to Ukraine in the Ukraine-Russia war. Senate elections in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Ohio could be hotly contested.
