[Anchor]
Voting is currently underway in the United States for the midterm elections, which serve as an interim assessment of the Trump administration. The state-by-state voting is concluding sequentially starting this morning, Korea time, and the outlines of the results are expected to emerge by this afternoon.
For our first news, Correspondent Jeon Byeong-nam reports from Washington.
[Reporter]
Voting for the midterm elections, which will determine the landscape of power in the U.S. Congress, began at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time, or 7:00 p.m. yesterday, Korea time.
Voting closes first in Indiana and Kentucky at 8:00 a.m. Korea time and will finally wrap up around 3:00 p.m. in western Alaska.
With the ruling Republican Party currently controlling both the House and the Senate, the midterm elections will elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate members.
This is a critical election that could reshape the balance of congressional power, with key issues cited as high inflation and economic conditions, including high oil prices triggered by the war in Iran.
[Philly / New Jersey: Interest rates are high, and the inflation rate is high. The economy is too unstable.]
[Chris / New Jersey: Inflation is the most important thing. As everyone knows, it is really hard to afford living expenses these days. I do not expect anyone to solve that, but I hope they can at least try to make things better than they are now.]
Amid expectations of a landslide victory for the Democratic Party, President Trump focused on rallying his core conservative base until the very end, calling the Democratic Party the "House of Satan."
[Donald Trump / U.S. President (yesterday): Remember when you vote. A party that hates America must not be allowed to govern the people who built our country.]
Outlines of the election results are expected to emerge starting around this afternoon, Korea time.
However, because voting systems differ by state and there are many fiercely contested districts, it is also raised as a possibility that it could take more than a week at most to determine the majority parties in the House and Senate.
(Video Shooting: Oh Jung-shik, Video Editing: Jung Yong-hwa)
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[Anchor]
Now, let us connect to Washington to find out about the current voting situation.
Correspondent Jeon Byeong-nam, the U.S. allows opinion poll results to be published right up until the election. What is the current race looking like?
[Reporter]
Synthesizing recent analysis results from U.S. election analysis organizations, a Democratic majority in the House is practically a fait accompli.
The key battleground is, as always, the Senate.
Seven locations, including conservative-leaning regions like Alaska, Texas, and Iowa, are cited as key battlegrounds.
If the Democrats maintain their current seats and add just four more, they will secure a majority in the Senate.
According to the Harvard election model released today, the Democratic Party's chances of winning the House were 96%, and winning the Senate were 78%.
Among the seven Senate battlegrounds, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, and Alaska were classified as "Democratic-leaning" regions.
An opinion poll by "The New York Times" the day before yesterday also forecasted a landslide victory for the Democrats in both the House and Senate, a so-called "blue tsunami."
Specifically, it analyzed that Democratic candidates are leading everywhere except Iowa.
However, as mentioned a few times, the concentration of conservative votes centered around the "shy Trump" factor remains a last-minute variable.
Unique election systems in some states, such as Alaska's ranked-choice voting system, could also act as variables.
The early battlegrounds that will gauge the direction of the Senate majority are North Carolina and Ohio, where voting closes at 9:30 a.m., Korea time.
North Carolina is a Republican seat heavily favored to be reclaimed by the Democrats, and Ohio is a key battleground where an ultra-tight race continued until the very end.
[Anchor]
There is a great deal of tension hanging over the polling stations, is that correct?
[Reporter]
The U.S. Department of Justice has deployed about 1,000 election monitors and observers across all 50 states.
The stated justification is "election fairness," which President Trump has continuously claimed.
The Department of Justice stated, "Election fairness is our top priority," and added, "We will conduct monitoring operations on the largest scale."
Interpretations are already emerging that this is intended by Attorney General Todd Blanche, a key confidant of President Trump, to gather potential cases of trouble in the voting process in the event of an election rout.
In response, states, particularly those with Democratic governors, have deployed the National Guard to counter this.
They are effectively conducting counter-monitoring, and the possibility of clashes between monitoring personnel centered around battlegrounds is also being raised.
Amidst this, foreign media reports have also emerged that the MAGA movement, the core support base of President Trump, is considering ways to block the inauguration of successful Democratic candidates, particularly hardline progressive "Democratic Socialists."
(Field Coverage: Oh Jung-shik, Video Editing: So Ji-hye, Design: Kim Na-mi)
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