Election Day: Polls open across the country with control of the House and Senate at stake

Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in midterm elections that will decide control of both chambers of Congress, 36 governorships and nearly every state legislature.

More than 54 million people had already cast ballots before Election Day, NPR reported, nearly half the total from the last midterm. NPR said Democrats hold a double-digit edge in early-vote data, which makes Republican turnout at the polls on Election Day a key unknown.

The math for control

Figures are from NPR and Fox News.

NPR reported that Democrats are favored in the House, even after Republicans redrew some district maps in the middle of the decade. In the Senate, NPR said Democrats are favored to flip North Carolina while most other competitive races are toss-ups or lean Republican. Fox News rates overall Senate control a toss-up.

Senate races to watch

CBS News lists these contests among the most important:

• Georgia: Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff against Republican Mike Collins.
• North Carolina: Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in the open seat left by retiring Republican Thom Tillis.
• Maine: Republican Sen. Susan Collins against Democrat Troy Jackson.
• Michigan: Republican Mike Rogers against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for the seat Gary Peters is leaving.
• Ohio: Democrat Sherrod Brown against Republican Sen. Jon Husted.
• Texas: Democrat James Talarico against Republican Ken Paxton.
• Alaska, Iowa and Kansas round out the list.

Governors

Fox News counts 36 governor races. CBS News highlights open-seat contests in Georgia, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin, plus Ohio, where Vivek Ramaswamy faces Amy Acton.

When polls close (Eastern Time)

• 6 p.m.: Parts of Indiana and Kentucky.
• 7 p.m.: Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and most of Florida and New Hampshire.
• 7:30 p.m.: North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.
• 8 p.m.: Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Illinois and several other states, plus most of Texas and Michigan.
• 11 p.m.: California and Washington.
• 1 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4: The last polls in Alaska.

The schedule is from Fox News. NPR cautioned that many races are close and some results could take days or weeks to settle.

Before you vote

Polling hours and ID rules vary by state. Check your state election office's website or vote.gov for your polling place.