America's highly anticipated midterms have arrived: What Israelis need to know about election day

About 200 million eligible Americans will get the chance to head to the polls this Tuesday to vote in their congressional midterm elections, with the potential to reshape the balance of political power in Washington. At stake are all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 Senate seats, and 36 governorships across the country.

More than 50 million Americans have already exercised their right to vote through early voting.

This election is being conducted under a system entirely different from the one familiar in Israel: there are no uniform nationwide voting hours, and each state—and sometimes even each county—sets its own polling-place opening and closing times, voter identification rules, and vote-counting schedule.

Timeline for Israelis: When do the polls close and when are results expected?

In-person voting will begin around midday Israel time and continue overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday, with the results gradually becoming clear as polling stations close. For those following from Israel, the first polls will close at around 1:00 a.m., and between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m., polls will close in key states, including Georgia, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

The western states, led by California, will wrap up voting around 6:00 a.m. Israel time, while the last polls in Alaska and Hawaii will close by 8:00 a.m.

The Battle for Congress: The Democratic Challenge and the Test of Governance

On the eve of the elections, the Republican Party holds a slim majority in both chambers of Congress: in the House of Representatives, Republicans control 218 seats to the Democrats’ 214, with two seats vacant and one held by an independent. A majority in the House requires 218 seats, and Democrats need a net gain of just four seats to flip control.

The balance of power in the Senate is even slimmer, with Republicans holding a 53-seat majority to the Democratic bloc’s 47 seats (45 Democrats and two independents).

Of the 35 Senate seats currently up for election, Democrats need a net gain of four seats to reach the 51-seat threshold for control, while Republicans can make do with 50 seats thanks to the vice president’s tie-breaking vote.

While the prevailing assessment is that Democrats have a real chance of winning a majority in the House of Representatives, the race for the Senate remains close in states such as Michigan and Alaska. Although President Donald Trump will remain in the White House, the results will determine his ability to advance legislation and control the public agenda, particularly regarding his foreign policy toward Iran.

Low poll numbers and a protest vote against Trump

The elections are taking place amid record-low public support for Trump, whose approval rating stands at just 32%, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. This comes amid surging fuel prices, and 78% of voters identify the cost of living as the most important issue.

General polls gave Democrats a 46% to 38% advantage over Republicans in preferences for control of Congress, alongside a significant enthusiasm gap favoring Democratic voters ahead of Election Day. About half of independent voters also described their vote as a direct protest against the president, a finding that increases the vulnerability of Republican candidates in tight local races.