US midterms LIVE: Election Day arrives after a surge in early voting

It’s just past 9am on Tuesday on the east coast (1am Wednesday AEDT) meaning polling has opened across most of the country.

California, Alaska and Washington state are among those opening in the next couple of hours with Hawaiians the last to get the chance to start voting at 12pm ET (4am AEDT).

A few seats in California will be critical to the Democrats securing the House while Alaska is shaping up as a high-profile contest in the Senate.

That’s partly because Democratic candidate Mary Peltola has a real chance at flipping the state and partly because there are two candidates called Dan Sullivan – one who is the

incumbent and another who’s been accused of running as a “spoiler” to attract accidental votes.

Donald Trump has called for Peltola to be prosecuted over reports her campaign talked the new Sullivan into running.

She has denied any role in the alleged chicanery and sought to distance herself from a New York Times article that linked a group backing her to a Democratic operative trying to recruit decoy candidates.

Welcome to our live coverage of the US midterm elections.

Today, all 435 members of the House of Representatives are up for election. Senators serve six-year terms, which are staggered elections. As a result, about a third of senators are on the ballot.

Furthermore, 39 governorships are on the ballot. In most of the biggest states, including California, Texas, New York and Florida, voters will decide who their most powerful statewide politician is.

There are also countless other elections, including state legislatures, local mayors and councils and a litany of other offices.