Trump's Fate to Be Decided Today... Results Expected to Take Shape by Afternoon

[Anchor]

Voting is currently underway in the United States for midterm elections that serve as an interim assessment of the Trump administration. The state-by-state voting is closing sequentially starting this morning, Korea time, and the outlines of the results are expected to emerge around this afternoon.

For our first story today, 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 will close first in Indiana and Kentucky at 8:00 a.m. Korea time, and finally conclude around 3:00 p.m. in western Alaska.

With the ruling Republican Party currently controlling both the House and the Senate, this midterm election will elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 members of the Senate.

It is a crucial election capable of shifting the balance of congressional power, with high inflation—including soaring oil prices triggered by the war with Iran—and economic conditions cited as core issues.

[Phil Reilly / New Jersey: Interest rates are high and inflation is high. The economy is very unstable.]

[Chris / New Jersey: Inflation is the most important thing. Like everyone else, it's really hard to afford living expenses these days. I don't expect anyone to solve it, 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 called the Democratic Party the "House of Satan" and focused heavily on rallying his core conservative base until the very end.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President (yesterday): Remember when you vote. We must not let a party that hates America govern the people who built our country.]

The outlines of the election results are expected to emerge starting around this afternoon, Korea time.

However, due to differing voting systems across states and the large number of districts considered tight races, it has been raised that it could take more than a week to determine the majority parties in the House and Senate.

(Camera reporting: Oh Jung-shik, Video editing: Jung Yong-hwa)

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[Anchor]

Let us now connect to Washington to check the current voting situation.

Correspondent Jeon Byeong-nam, in the U.S., public opinion poll results can be published right up until the election. What is the current race outlook?

[Reporter]

Synthesizing recent analysis results from U.S. election analysis organizations, a Democratic majority in the House is practically a given.

The key battleground is, as always, the Senate.

Seven locations, including conservative-leaning regions like Alaska, Texas, and Iowa, are cited as core battlegrounds.

If the Democrats maintain their current seats and pick up just four more, they will secure a majority in the Senate.

According to the Harvard election model released today, the probability of a Democratic victory was 96% for the House and 78% for the Senate.

Among the seven Senate battlegrounds, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, and Alaska were classified as leaning Democratic.

An opinion poll by The New York Times the day before also projected a sweeping Democratic victory in both the House and Senate, a so-called "blue tsunami."

Specifically, it analyzed that Democratic candidates were leading in all areas except Iowa.

However, as mentioned a few times, the mobilization of conservative voters centered around "shy Trump" supporters remains a last-minute variable.

Unique voting systems in certain 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 Democrats, while Ohio is a core battleground where an ultra-tight race continued until the very end.

[Anchor]

Are the polling stations shrouded in considerable tension?

[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 consistently advocated.

The Department of Justice stated that "election fairness is a top priority" and that it would carry out "the largest-scale monitoring activities."

Interpretations are already emerging that the intent of Attorney General Todd Blanche, a key confidant of President Trump, is to compile cases of voting process problems in the event of a major election defeat.

In response, states, particularly those with Democratic governors, have deployed the National Guard to counter this.

It is effectively a counter-monitoring effort, and possibilities of clashes between monitoring personnel in battlegrounds have also been raised.

Amidst this, foreign media reports have emerged that the MAGA movement, core supporters of President Trump, is considering ways to block the inauguration of winning Democratic candidates, particularly hardline progressive "Democratic Socialist" winners.

(On-site production: Oh Jung-shik, Video editing: So Ji-hye, Design: Kim Na-mi)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.