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4:05 p.m. AND
A man is accused of threatening to shoot workers at a polling booth in western Pennsylvania after telling him that he was not allowed to vote.
Christopher T. Queen, 48, of Claysville, was charged Tuesday with terrorist threats and disorderly behavior.
According to Melanie Ostrander, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer for Washington County, Quinn arrived at the Volunteer Fire Department of South Franklin, South Franklin Township, around 9:00 am Tuesday. She says that he became furious when he was told that he was not registered to vote.
Ostrander said the man would have "been upset, told the election officials that he was going to fetch a gun, come back and shoot them."
The court documents do not mention the Queen's attorney and a phone number listed on his behalf sounded unanswered before Tuesday's disconnect.
13:00. AND
Some voters in one of Georgia's most diverse counties said they had to wait more than three hours to vote at a polling station in Snellville, east of Atlanta.
Ontaria Woods said she arrived at Annistown Elementary School on Tuesday at 7 am to vote. More than three hours later, she was still waiting, with about 75 to 100 people online. She said she saw about two dozen people leave frustrated without voting because of the long wait.
Joe Sorenson, a spokesman for Gwinnett County, Georgia, Election Supervisor, said he could not confirm waiting times, but that four polling stations had problems with "polls express", who create cards equivalent to electronic votes.
Reports from Fulton, Clayton and Gwinnett counties indicate that polling stations are largely under-prepared for high voter turnout. Broken voting machines have also been reported as delays continue to affect thousands of voters in Georgia.
10:25 ET
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he hoped that the outcome of the mid-term US elections would ease domestic tensions in the United States and allow Washington to focus on global issues.
Speaking to reporters in Madrid on Tuesday, Lavrov lamented that Russian-US relations have become "hostages to internal political quarrels in America."
Lavrov said he hoped the elections would help stabilize US domestic policy "so that Washington can focus on some positive developments on the international stage."
Lavrov also reiterated Moscow's position that it is not interfering in the US elections.
He said: "All the accusations that we would interfere in today's elections turned out to be empty statements."
9:25 am
Extreme weather conditions in several southern states could affect turnout on election day.
A series of storms crossed the Great South during the night and early Tuesday morning, cutting down trees and power lines between Louisiana and South Carolina. There were no serious injuries, but about 11,000 people remained without electricity.
In the night, a separate storm front in central Tennessee killed one person, injured two others, and left thousands without electricity.
The National Weather Service warned of a potential for high winds, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes on Tuesday around Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and the Mid-Atlantic region.
Dry weather was forecast for the west and southwest, but significant snow accumulations were expected in the northern Rocky Mountains.
Previous story below
A troubled election season that defeated President Donald Trump's political style against the strength of the Democratic Resistance is ending as Americans vote in the first Trump National Elections.
Voters go to the polls Tuesday, nothing is certain.
Anxious Republicans have expressed confidence in their close personal confidence in the Senate, while fearing the House will slip away. Trump, the GOP's main messenger, warned that major democratic victories would have devastating consequences.
"If radical democrats take power, they will destroy our economy and our future," Trump told reporters in Cleveland, using the same heated rhetoric that has characterized most of his presidency. "The Democratic agenda is a socialist nightmare," he added.
Democrats, whose relevance even at the time of Trump depended on the victory of at least one House of Congress, focused laser on health care as they predicted victories that would shatter the monopoly of the GOP in Washington and state governments.
"They had two years to find out what it's like to have a deranged person at the White House," said Washington Governor Jay Inslee, who heads the Democratic Governors Association. "It's a revival of the Democratic Party."
Democrats could derail Trump's legislative agenda for the next two years if they took control of the House or Senate. More importantly, they would claim the power of subpoena to investigate Trump's personal and professional deficiencies.
Some Democrats have already promised to force the publication of his tax returns. Others have pledged to continue the impeachment process, although it is unlikely that their dismissal will be carried out as long as the government controls the Senate or even maintains a healthy minority.
The fate of the Democrats depends on a delicate coalition of infrequent voters – especially young people and minorities – who traditionally flee the mid-term elections.
If ever there was an election outside of the year for younger voters to break the tradition, that is it. Young voters promised to vote in record numbers as they staged protests after the February shooting in a high school in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 students and staff.
Democrats draw strength from women and college graduates in general, who have been resolutely opposed to Trump since his election. Polls suggest that the Republican coalition is getting older, whiter, more masculine, and less likely to have a university degree.
Democrats boast of record diversity on the ballot.
Three states could elect their first African-American governors, while several others nominate LGBT candidates and Muslims. A record number of women are also running in the Senate, House, governors and legislatures.
"The vast majority of women voters are angry, frustrated and tired of seeing where the Republican Party is taking them, especially with regard to health care and civility," said Stephanie Schriock, who heads the list of EMILY, a group that helps elect women Democrats. "You will see the biggest gender gap we have ever seen."
Political realignment, defined by race, sex and education, could reshape American politics for a generation. The demographic changes also reflect the closing argument of each party.
As the economy continues to thrive, Trump has spent most of the last days of the campaign against a caravan of Latin American immigrants seeking asylum at the US border. He has sent more than 5,000 soldiers to the area, suggesting that soldiers would use deadly force against migrants who throw stones before toppling over.
Republicans privately encouraged the president to retreat, to no avail.
Democrats, meanwhile, beat the drum in health.
"Health care is on the ballot," said former President Barack Obama at Volunteer Democrats in Virginia. "Health care for millions of people, you vote, you may save a life."
Tuesday's results will be colored by radically different landscapes in the struggle for the House and Senate.
Most House races take place in the American suburbs, where more educated and affluent voters have ruined themselves on the Trump presidency, despite the strength of the national economy. Democrats have been encouraged by a wave of Republican retirements and by a huge fundraising advantage.
They need two dozen seats to claim the majority in the House.
Democratic Senators face a much tougher challenge in the Senate, where they are almost exclusively involved in defense in rural states where Trump remains popular. The outgoing members of the Democratic Senate must be re-elected, for example in North Dakota, West Virginia and Montana – the United States won an average of 30 percentage points two years ago.
Democrats must win two seats to claim a majority in the Senate.
Given Trump's overwhelming victory in 2016, few people were confident in their predictions.
"I feel less comfortable today than I have been predicting for two decades," said Republican pollster Frank Luntz.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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