US midterm counting begins as Republicans fight to hold Congress against Democratic challenge

Counting of votes has begun in earnest in the United States after the recent midterm elections. The results will set the direction of American politics ahead. President Donald Trump's Republican Party faces a major challenge in retaining its dominance in the US Congress.

Millions of citizens voted on Tuesday. The vote will show whether the Republican Party keeps control of Congress or the opposition Democratic Party wins the lower house, the House of Representatives. In the Senate, the upper house, the two parties are locked in an extremely close contest.

Going by the history and trends of American politics, the sitting president's party has lost almost every midterm election since the Second World War. President Trump's approval rating is now close to its lowest ever. Americans are largely angry over the military dispute with Iran, higher fuel prices and rising inflation.

According to exit polls, about 50 per cent of voters used this election to express anger against the Trump government. About 75 per cent expressed deep dissatisfaction with the country's current direction, while 70 per cent said Congress should exercise greater control over the president's powers. Trump had appealed to his supporters to vote as though he himself were on the ballot. The opposition also made this issue the centrepiece of its campaign.

Now to the arithmetic of the two chambers. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives went to the polls. To win a majority there, the Democrats must take at least 3 seats from the Republican Party. One analysis says 47 seats are very closely contested. If results in the remaining seats go as expected, the Democrats need to win only 13 of these 47 for a majority.

Voting was held for 35 of the 100 Senate seats. The Democrats need to win 4 new seats for a majority, but the Senate is considered a difficult road for them. They must hold all their own seats and also win in states such as Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas, where Trump won by a double-digit margin in the 2024 election.

Donald Trump has several times in the past alleged irregularities and rigging in elections. Legal experts and opposition leaders therefore fear that if the Republican Party loses, Trump could move court to challenge the results.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice has deployed about 1,000 election observers and monitoring teams across all 50 states to ensure the fairness of the election. The administration has said this is the largest election monitoring operation in US history. The opposition Democratic Party, on the other hand, has criticised the move, alleging that it is an attempt to pressure or intimidate voters.