US midterm elections: Voters battle huge queues and technical issues across the States

Large queues have been noted throughout the US
AFP/Getty Images
Jacob Jarvis6 November 2018

Voters in the US midterm elections have battled huge queues and malfunctioning machines, with some having to wait three hours to get to the booths.

There were issues reported across the States as the country went to the polls in what is seen as a referendum on Donald Trump's presidency.

Voter turnout could be the highest for a midterm election in 50 years, experts predicted.

A judge has ordered 12 polling places in a northwestern Indiana county to stay open late due to openings being delayed.

The Northwest Indiana Times said a Porter County judge ordered the polling sites stay open up to two-and-a-half hours later than their scheduled closing time.

People voting in Brooklyn, New York
EPA

In Georgia, more than 100 people sat on the floor or took turns sitting in children’s chairs as they waited.

One person in the line, Ontaria Woods, said around 12 people had been forced to leave because of the delays.

"We've been trying to tell them to wait, but people have children. People are getting hungry. People are tired," Ms Woods said.

At other sites, voters waited in the rain as they crowded around the entrances to buildings.

People queue in the rain waiting to vote
EPA

Reports of broken ballot scanners surfaced at some polling places across New York City.

At one packed precinct on Manhattan's Upper West Side the line to scan ballots stretched around a junior high school gym in the morning as the turnout was so high.

Poll workers there told voters that two of the roughly half-dozen scanners were malfunctioning, though repairs were underway

There multiple issues across sites 
EPA

Voters arriving at two separate polling stations discovered that most scanners had broken down.

This forced some people to drop their ballots in "emergency ballot boxes" or vote using an affidavit ballot.

"People are grumpy and frustrated but positive in a weird way, making jokes and talking to one another. I think it's because we all are in the 'no one will stop our vote today' mood,"' said Nikki Euell, an advertising producer who waited more than two hours to vote in Brooklyn.

Some 40 million early votes were likely cast, said Michael McDonald, who is a professor at the University of Florida who tracks the figures.

In the last such congressional elections, in 2014, there were significantly less, with 27.5 million early votes.

A dog patiently waiting for its owner to vote in Atlanta
EPA

"I have worked at this poll the last three elections and this is the biggest turnout ever," said Bev Heidgerken, 67, a volunteer at a polling place in Davenport, Iowa.

"We usually hope for 200 voters for the entire day but by 9 o'clock we already have had 69."

Polling stations will close from between 7.30pm to 1am Eastern Standard Time, which is midnight to 6am on Wednesday in the UK.

Democrat Stacey Abrams will be the first black female US state governor if she is elected in Georgia in a tight race with Brian Kemp who is the Republican candidate.

President Donald Trump and vice-president Mike Pence campaigned for Mr Kemp while former president Barack Obama and talk show host Oprah Winfrey were among those to join Ms Adams on the campaign trail.

The state has been strongly Republican in recent decades but is seen to now be a Democratic target.

Former president Jimmy Carter, who was governor of Georgia before his stint in the White House, has also backed Ms Abrams.

Midterm elections take place every two years and determine which party controls congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Voters taking to their booths, in what is expected to be a record turn out
AFP/Getty Images

All 435 seats in the House, 35 Senate seats and 36 governorships are up for the taking.

Democrats are favoured by election forecasters to take the minimum of 23 House seats needed for a majority.

The battle to control the House could come down to a handful of seats out West.

While Republicans are expected to retain their slight majority in the Senate, currently at two seats.

This would let them retain the power to approve US Supreme Court and other judicial nominations.

During his time in office, President Donald Trump has pushed tax cuts through Congress.

But he has failed to deliver on presidential campaign promises to replace the Obamacare healthcare law and build a wall on the Mexican border against illegal immigration.

A Democratic victory in the House would further hinder the border wall plan.

It would also complicate congressional approval of a deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mr Trump could also face more pushback from Democrats on trade tariffs he has introduced.

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