[Anchor]

As voting for the US midterm elections comes to a close one by one, early vote counting is fully underway, centering on the Eastern and Central regions. This midterm election is expected to determine the direction of the remaining two years of President Trump's administration. Let's connect with our Washington correspondent for the details.

Correspondent Lee Hanseok, some places must have started counting votes by now. First, could you summarize the results so far? We are also curious about the atmosphere in the bellwether regions that can foreshadow the outcome of the House of Representatives.

[Reporter]

Yes, let's first take a look at the Senate battlegrounds and competitive regions where vote counting is currently underway among the areas of interest.

First is Iowa.

With just over 30 percent of the vote counted,

Democratic candidate Turek is holding a relatively comfortable lead in the early-to-mid stages of counting with 56.1 percent, ahead of Republican candidate Hinson, who has 41.3 percent.

Next is Texas, a traditional Republican stronghold.

With 55 percent of the vote counted, Democratic candidate Talarico is comfortably ahead with 58.9 percent, compared to Republican candidate Paxton at 39.6 percent.

If this is an upset, it is an upset.

Next is Maine.

The race is currently neck-and-neck with 22 percent of the vote counted.

Democratic candidate Jackson is at 50.2 percent and Republican candidate Collins is at 49.7 percent, making it an ultra-tight and unpredictable contest.

Next is Ohio.

Counting is moving past the late 79 percent mark, with Democratic candidate Brown at 48.3 percent and Republican candidate Husted at 46.9 percent.

The gap between the two candidates was 4 percentage points 40 minutes ago, but it continues to narrow.

This race is likewise impossible to predict a step ahead.

Among these four Senate battlegrounds where vote counting has begun, Democratic candidates are leading comfortably in two, and US election forecasting institutions are putting the probability of Democrats recapturing the House at 100 percent.

The Republicans must be quite nervous.

There are other places worth keeping an eye on.

They are Kentucky's 6th Congressional District and Florida's 14th Congressional District, which are cited as bellwethers for control of the House.

In particular, the vote margin in Kentucky's 6th District—a Republican stronghold where President Trump won a landslide victory by a 15 percentage point margin in the last presidential election—is cited as a core indicator.

If the Republican candidate wins a narrow victory by a single-digit margin, or if the Democratic candidate pulls off an upset, it could be interpreted as a signal of a so-called "blue tsunami" that goes beyond Democrats seizing control of the House, so both party camps are watching developments with tension.

[Anchor]

Right, Correspondent Lee Hanseok, the Senate results of this midterm election are a key point to watch, but when can we expect the results from the swing states?

[Reporter]

Yes, there appear to be three major turning points that will decide the Senate race.

The first turning point consists of four out of the seven Senate battlegrounds: Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, and Texas.

If there are no disruptions in vote counting, over 90 percent of the votes are expected to be counted by around 2:00 PM today in Korean time, giving us a rough outline of the winners.

Since Democrats need to win in five out of the seven places to recapture the Senate majority, they must sweep all four early states to secure the momentum.

On the other hand, if the Republicans manage to hold onto three or more of these places, it is likely they will maintain their majority.

The next battleground is Michigan.

Here, because each county counts votes separately and the tallying is delayed in Detroit—where the population is concentrated—votes are expected to pour in all at once around 5:00 PM today in Korean time.

Reporting live from Washington.

(On-site Coverage: Park Eun-ha, Video Editing: Lee Seung-jin)