2.2 million eligible Americans live outside the United States. An estimated 150,000 of them live in Germany. In recent months, the organization Democrats Abroad has been encouraging those voters to vote as part of the “Rally for Democracy” campaign. “There was a lot of commitment,” said deputy chairman Matthew LeMieux to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.
"In presidential elections, the motivation of US citizens abroad to cast their vote is usually greater. But this year it is different: we feel significantly more willing to participate than in the last midterm elections," he summed up. “History shows that foreign voices can make a difference.”
Due to persistent rain and flooding, 21 polling stations in eight districts in the US state of Florida have been relocated. This was announced by the state's election authorities. Places on the central and southern Atlantic coast are particularly affected, but also some inland districts. Voters were informed via text message and email, it said. Signs indicating the new locations have also been put up at the polling stations.
Some residents expressed frustration on social media and concerns that some voters would not be able to get to polling stations because of the flooding. Amy Keith, Florida director of the civil rights and democracy organization Common Cause, spoke of a big problem. “It’s already been a pretty challenging morning,” she said. She called on voters to check with electoral authorities where they can vote.
The Democratic group leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, believes in a majority of his party in the Congressional chamber. After casting his vote at a school in New York's Brooklyn borough on Tuesday, he said that when the polls closed there would be "a new Democratic majority in the United States Senate." But you don't want to get excited too early. The mood is optimistic, but at the same time there is a queasy feeling.
For the Senate election in the state of Michigan, he predicted a victory for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed's former rival in the party primary, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, is supporting Republican Mike Rogers. Stevens only has one vote, Schumer said. El-Sayed will win because he speaks about the issues that matter to people in Michigan.
A year ago, no one thought that the Democrats could take back the Senate. Schumer attributed the fact that things are now different to his party's "relentless" focus on the cost of living and the "chaos overseas in a war with Iran that no one wants."
US rock star Bruce Springsteen has warned against interference by President Donald Trump's government in the congressional elections. In a video message on Tuesday, the well-known Trump critic and Democratic supporter appealed to election officials and government officials to “ensure our votes are counted safely.” He added: “You who represent us must never agree to any instructions that undermine our constitutional right to free and fair elections.”
For weeks, US President Trump has been sowing doubts about the correct conduct of elections in states governed by Democrats. There are fears that if his Republicans lose, he could try to take action against the outcome of the elections. Trump still does not recognize his defeat against Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
The 20-time Grammy winner Springsteen is considered one of the most eloquent Trump critics in the US cultural scene and, among other things, has strongly condemned the president's crackdown on undocumented migrants. At the beginning of the year he released the protest song “Streets of Minneapolis,” which he wrote after the fatal shootings of US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Pretti and Good were shot by emergency services on the sidelines of protests against Trump's immigration policy.
On Election Day, US Vice President JD Vance recalled the Trump administration's tax cuts on Platform X. "We eliminated overtime taxes. We eliminated tips taxes," Vance wrote. Taxes on state pension insurance benefits have also been abolished.
However, the legal regulations go less far-reaching than Vance portrays. More than 40 states have not implemented the federal tip tax exemption rule. Anyone who receives a federal tax deduction for tips or overtime must therefore continue to pay taxes to their state on that income.
When it comes to the taxation of public pensions, US President Donald Trump's comprehensive tax law provides a temporary tax break. This applies to older people’s entire income – not just their pensions.
Voting machines failed in a county in New York state during the US congressional elections. The Westchester County Board of Elections said Tuesday it was “aware of an issue with paper ballots that is preventing voting machines at polling locations throughout the county from accepting ballots.” At the same time, the electoral authority emphasized that the ballot papers would instead be placed in emergency bags and counted.
The New York State Election Authority said on online service X that there was no disruption to the voting process. All ballots would be counted. Parts of Westchester County are part of New York's 17th District, where Republican incumbent Mike Lawler is running against Democrat Cait Conley in a tight race. The district was won by Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
The civil rights organization American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is preparing for a possible dispute over the Senate election in the US state of Alaska. ACLU lawyer Theresa Lee told the AP news agency before the midterm elections that the Justice Department, at the direction of US President Donald Trump, wanted to prevent the official certification of a possible election victory for the Democrats until it was clear whether the ballot in Alaska had confused voters.
Incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan is being challenged by a candidate with a very similar name: Daniel J. Sullivan. Senator Sullivan accuses his namesake of colluding with Democrats and the campaign team of former Democratic House Speaker Mary Peltola, who is seeking to win his seat for Democrats. ACLU attorney Lee said the groundwork for a challenge to the election in Alaska if the Democrats win has been in place "for at least a year and a half." Your organization has also been preparing for this for at least a year and a half.
On the day of the important US congressional elections, President Donald Trump turned to his voters at the last minute and claimed success for himself. "We're great now. Two years ago we were terrible," the Republican told Fox News by telephone on Tuesday. “We must keep America great,” he said, alluding to his motto “Make America Great Again.”
Trump also said the problem of inflation has been “solved.” However, the US central bank Federal Reserve (Fed) left the key interest rate unchanged last week and did not lower it as Trump had requested. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said: “Inflation is too high.”
Referring to the Strait of Hormuz, which is central to global oil and gas trade, Trump said: "We have it completely under control with the naval blockade (against Iran)." Since the Iran war began at the end of February, Tehran has largely blocked the strait and repeatedly attacks ships there. In return, the USA imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
“Everything is going well,” Trump continued. “Car companies are pouring in because they don’t want to pay tariffs.” The German car manufacturer Audi, among others, recently announced the construction of its first factory in the country. With regard to the issue of migration, Trump said that before his time as president, the US border was “open”. “Millions and millions of people came in, many criminals and murderers,” the right-wing populist claimed, repeating unfounded or exaggerated statements.
In the past, the USA was “a laughing stock around the world,” Trump also said. "Now we're hot. We're the hottest country in the world. We're respected by everyone. We're going to make sure it stays that way - and gets even better."
Republicans have spent an estimated $183 million on transgender-related TV ads against Democratic candidates in the final stretch of the midterms through Oct. 25, according to data provider AdImpact. The spots were broadcast around 217,000 times nationwide, according to data provided to the AP news agency.
Most of the broadcasts were related to the Senate election in Texas. There, Democrat James Talarico is challenging Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. The state has been a Republican stronghold for decades. A Talarico victory would therefore also have a signaling effect for Trump: midterm elections in the USA are traditionally considered a referendum on the president's policies.
In Texas, Republicans spent an estimated $58 million on more than 50,000 broadcasts, according to AdImpact data. According to an analysis by the AP, large amounts of money also flowed into spots on the topic of trans identity in the states of Ohio, Kansas, South Carolina, Iowa and Mississippi.
Observers see this as a plan to use highly polarizing questions of gender identity to distract from doubts about Trump's leadership and the economic situation. However, according to a survey by the AP and the Norc opinion research center, the proportion of voters who rate the issue as one of the most important in the midterms is low. Only about one in 10 registered voters said this in the October survey.
