Voter rights, candidates, forecasts: everything you need to know about the mid-term elections in the United States

November 6 in the US will be held mid-term elections, in which Americans will elect their representatives to local authorities, reelect the House of Representatives, as well as 33 members of the Senate.

Фото: Depositphotos

Edition ProPublica Gathered basic information you need to know before voting.

What's on the newsletter?

You may be surprised on election day when you see how many names are on your newsletter. In addition to federal candidates for the House of Representatives and the Senate, in some states there are local elections to the judiciary, municipalities, school districts, etc. Newsletters in some Florida counties consist of five pages with text on both sides.

But you can prepare for this with a few steps:

Read the sample newsletter

You can find out who is in the bulletin in your district, and decide who you intend to vote for by checking the site BallotReadywhich provides information on candidates at all levels, and also offers a look at the sample ballots.

Rehearse

Many local election commissions have an additional voting machine, which everyone can read before voting. Call your local commission and find out how you can organize a rehearsal for you.

Dig deeper

Perhaps one of the candidates in your constituency has already spent some time occupying the position and is trying to be re-elected. If so, you can see how they spent their time at the post, checking how they voted, what problems they raised, and decide if they think you deserve a second term. This information can be obtained by link.

For candidates who want to make their first policy step, League of Women Voters has information on local and federal nominees.

Voting day

Where should you go

In some states, voting on the wrong polling may invalidate your ballot. You can find your polling station using Google.

What to take with you

Identity ID requirements for voting in elections vary widely from state to state. This leads to the fact that some voters mistakenly believe that they do not have the required identifier when it actually is. See the laws in your state on the site Vote411to know what ID to take to the site.

Check and recheck your registration

The problem with registration is one of the most common problems that voters face in elections.

Inactive voters are regularly removed from the lists or those who have forgotten to provide their new address after the move, in addition, mistakes are often made in the lists.

Therefore, before you go to vote, make sure that you are registered as a voter. To do this, go to the website vote.orgwhere you can make this check.

If your registration has been deactivated (or if you have not registered yet)In some states it is not too late to fix it. Fifteen States and the District of Columbia conduct voter registration on election day, which allows you to register and vote immediately at the polling station.

If you think your registration has been mistakenly deactivated, and the registration deadline in your state has passed, there are a few more things you can do.

Bring your registration card. Your unique voter identification number can be very useful if you have a registration problem. A member of the election commission can use this number to check the database and search for your information. If you do not have your registration card, you can bring another registration confirmation, including an online confirmation or a copy of your registration form, if you filled it out manually. This will help prove that you registered on time.

If your name is not on the constituency list of this district, you are eligible for assistance. A member of the election commission must call the appropriate electoral official to determine whether you, as a voter, are registered and, if so, refer you to the correct polling station. You can also get help by calling the Democratic National Committee 833-336-8683 hotline. The Republican Party did not create a hotline this year.

You can also call the Voter Protection Hotline for help from volunteers and lawyers on 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

Ask for a preliminary bulletin. If your name is not listed on the voter register and you are told that you cannot vote, ask for a preliminary ballot. If the personal information that you specify coincides with your data during the previous registration at the elections, then you will most likely be registered as a voter later and your vote will not be lost.

To account for your vote on the preliminary ballot, you may have to revisit the commission with an identity card some time after the vote.

Voter rights

If you speak English poorly and you need help, вWe are allowed to bring someone with you if you need help reading and translating newsletters. You can get help from any person you choose (other than your employer or union representative), including a child, relative or friend. But at the same time your assistant should not be a registered voter.

You (may) have the right to vote in a language other than English. According to the Voting Rights Act, in any county where more than 10 000 resides residents whose native language is not English and who indicated this during the population census, electoral materials must be prepared in their language, including notices, forms, instructions and newsletters.

If election officials cannot help with the language issue, you can call the hotlines:

• 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682; for bilingual support in Spanish and English)
• 888-API-VOTE (888-273-8683; for help in Cantonese, Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Vietnamese and English)
• 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287; for bilingual assistance in Arabic and English)

If you have a disability and you need a plot with access for the disabled

According to the American Disabilities Act, voting places must be equipped for people with disabilities. For them, at least one voting machine must be equipped at each polling station.

If you are not offered such a machine, you can ask. If the commission’s staff do not know how to use it, you can call the leadership of the constituency and report the situation

If you are still standing in line when the polling station closes

The presence of queues ga plot can not deprive you of the right to vote. According to the laws of many states, all people who were already in the queue at the time of the closure of the site should receive the right to vote, and their ballots will be accepted, even if this results in a delay of the actual closure time.

If you were in the queue before the closure of the polling station and they are trying to deny you the right to vote, call one of the hotlines for the voters mentioned above.

Фото: Depositphotos

Edition “Medusa”Gathered data on why these elections are so important, as well as predictions about the winning party.

What are midterms

This is the most important date in the American electoral cycle, not counting, of course, the presidential election. In English, they are called midterm elections, because they fall around the middle of a presidential term. During these elections, as well as during the general elections, the House of Representatives is completely re-elected (435 lawmakers sit in the lower house of Congress, they are elected for a two-year term) and a third of the seats in the Senate (the term of service in the upper house is six years, therefore every two years re-elected 33 or 34 chairs). In addition, in the midterm elections, the fate of most of the governor’s posts is decided, and this year governors in 36 states will be re-elected.

During midterm elections to Congress, US voters may express agreement or disagreement with the policies of the current president. For example, if the majority of the population is satisfied with the work of the Democratic president, then at the midterm elections, candidates from the Democratic Party will win the majority - that is, the president will receive a more loyal composition of the Congress. Most often, however, it turns out the opposite - the mid-term elections become an opportunity for the opposing party to consolidate its position in Congress.

Why is this election special?

The main factor in the midterm elections traditionally remains voter turnout. Compared with the presidential, it is always lower. According to the majority of American publications, the country approaches the 2018 election of the year to a maximum divided into two camps. This means that success will more than ever depend on which party can bring more supporters to the polling stations.

A few months ago, it seemed that the usual scenario would repeat: supporters of the Democratic Party, frustrated with the loss of Hillary Clinton in the presidential election in 2016, would go to the polls to remove the Republicans from Congress. However, in early October, polls began to observe a sharp increase in the activity of Republican voters.

What topics will affect the outcome of the vote

Before the mid-term elections, where state representatives are chosen, federal topics are rarely discussed. However, the upcoming elections will clearly be an exception - as noted by FiveThirtyEight, a site that specializes in election forecasts, the influence on the preferences of voters not local but federal subjects partly makes them similar to presidential ones. The Trump administration on the eve of the elections focuses on topics on which public opinion is already divided - for example, on the problem of migrants (a week before the elections, Trump promised not to give citizenship to children of illegal immigrants born in the United States). On the other hand, Trump’s aggressive rhetoric (as well as the behavior of some of his fans, such as Caesar Sayok, who sent parcels of bombs to prominent Democratic supporters shortly before the election) is likely to spur on his opponents.

Where the fate of the Congress will be decided

As always, the most interesting thing in the American elections is the so-called undecided constituencies: unlike those where voters traditionally prefer a candidate from one of the two largest parties, here the result of the vote cannot be predicted in advance, and it’s up to which side the undecided will take largely depend on the outcome of the elections. The New York Times estimates that in 75 controversial districts live up to 50 of millions of American voters.

Who will win

In the press, the upcoming elections are sometimes compared with a vote of no confidence in President Donald Trump, and the chances of the Democratic Party for strengthening their positions are higher than the Republicans' chances of keeping theirs. Now the Democrats in the House belong to the 193 chair, and the Republicans 235. To win, Democrats need not lose a single seat and get an extra 23. The chances of success are quite high; so, according to FiveThirtyEight on November 1, the likelihood that Democrats will be able to gain control of the House of Representatives was 85,3%.

At the same time, polls show that in most states Democrats and Republicans are literally nostrils in their nostrils - few of the candidates have managed to significantly detach themselves from their rival. In the Senate, the alignment is generally not in favor of the Democrats: here their chances of gaining control of the chamber are estimated at 15%.

What happens if the Democrats win? And if the Republicans?

If the House of Representatives is left to the Republicans, it can be regarded as a significant strengthening of the position of Donald Trump. The president will be able to continue reforms aimed at economic deregulation and tax cuts, may try to repeal the law on health insurance again, and talk about impeachment will finally come to naught.

If the Democrats win, the consequences will be more political: the calls to investigate various accusations and impeachment will become louder, but the Democratic Party will still not be able to dictate its own legislative agenda - a divided Congress will be a victory for them.

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