US midterms LIVE: Election day voting kicks off; Trump slashes aid to Israel; Man charged with mailing white powder

Federal authorities have charged an Oklahoma man with sending hundreds of letters containing non-hazardous white powder to public officials ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections.

The powders turned out to be yeast or flour, though not all letters have been fully tested, the FBI said in a court filing made public on Tuesday (early Wednesday AEDT).

Robin Martin is charged with conveying a hoax and mailing threatening communications.

He is expected to make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon (Wednesday morning AEDT) in Oklahoma City. Online records do not list an attorney to comment on his behalf.

The first polls close at 9am Wednesday AEDT, and the first results will come in soon after. 

But because of different closing times and timezones, the results will be staggered throughout Wednesday morning and afternoon Australian time.

A lot of people will be drawing a lot of conclusions from the first ballots to come in.

But that's a trap people often fall into.

Counties count their ballots in different ways. Some will count their election day votes first, followed by postal and early votes.

In those counties, it will initially look like Republicans are having a great night. 

In counties that do the opposite, it will look like Democrats will be winning big.

But even though results shift as they come in, it's important to remember that we are watching a jigsaw puzzle getting solved, rather than a horse race.

The result is set in stone once voting ends. We are just watching the picture take shape.

Trump has declared the US will cut US4billion(5.7 billion) in aid to Israel, arguing the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East doesn’t need it.

“You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash,” Trump told Fox News Channel in a phone call for the midterms

“Look, we give them $4 billion of things and money, and they don’t need it.

Coming on election day the announcement was always going to look political but Trump himself admitted the aid had become a talking point used by his domestic opponents.

“The left uses the $4 billion payment — that everybody knows about, it’s no secret — as a signal of unfairness,” Trump said.

“And we can’t allow that to happen. I don’t like that, because it’s too easy. It’s almost too easy a target. And Bibi and I have been talking, and we’ve agreed. He was very understanding of it.”

There was no immediate comment from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office but Yair Golan, a leader in the opposition bloc, said it would deal a “severe blow to Israel’s security”.

The United States has sent tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Israel over the last few years.

Republican focus on in-person voting on election day may come back to haunt them, looking at the weather forecast.

A broad swathe of middle America is set for a drenching, including in the key states of Ohio, Kansas and Texas.

With voting not compulsory, potential voters may peer out the window and decide they aren't keen to get drenched waiting in line.

Meaning Democrats may already have an edge based purely on their focus on postal ballots and early votes.

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.