What evidence is there of non-citizens voting?published at 02:22 GMT

02:22 GMT

By Jake Horton, BBC Verify

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been posting on social media about arrests they say have been made in several states of non-citizens illegally registering to vote and voting in this and past elections.

This is in line with what we have seen in recent weeks, as the DOJ has announced similar charges against people it says are non-citizens - but, even if proven, these have been small numbers.

For example, the DOJ requested that California not count 20,000 postal ballots it claimed are from "likely non-citizen registrants" - but charged 34 people, external out of those with illegally registering to vote and voting.

Multiple studies suggest proven instances of non-citizens voting in past US elections are rare.

A database kept by the Heritage Foundation, external - a conservative think tank - records cases of electoral fraud that resulted in a conviction. It identified 24 instances of non-citizens being convicted for voting between 2005 and 2025.

A 2026 analysis by Reuters, external of non-citizen voting cases brought in federal courts found that over the last 30 years, 129 people had been criminally charged and 73 of those cases resulted in a conviction.

CBS News and the Associated Press have just projected another three Senate seats:

• John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has won re-election in Colorado
• Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat, has won re-election in New Mexico
• Harriet Hageman, a Republican, has won re-election in Wyoming

The BBC's US news partner CBS has just rated several Senate races in states where polls have recently closed, but where a result is not yet clear.

South Carolina: Leans Democrat

Iowa: Toss up

Kansas: Toss up

Michigan: Toss up

Nebraska: Toss up

Texas: Toss up

Democrat Chris Pappas is projected to win the New Hampshire Senate seat.

In January, when he is sworn in, Pappas will make history as the first openly gay man elected to the US Senate.

In 2013, Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin made history as the first openly gay person elected to the chamber.

Speaking to supporters, Pappas says he is "ready to fight" for voters in the state.

Image source, CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

'Bloodbath': Texas Republicans tell me they're worriedpublished at 02:07 GMT

02:07 GMT

Daniel Bush
Washington correspondent

The night is still young, but a text message from one Republican source in Texas sums up the mood inside the party at the moment.

Asked how Republicans feel about the state’s Senate race, the longtime Republican operative responded with one word: "Bloodbath."

Only roughly 40% of the vote is in so far in that Senate race. James Talarico, the Democratic candidate, is leading his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, by nearly 20 percentage points. The race will likely tighten as more votes get counted. But Republicans don't seem optimistic.

Image source, AP

Over to North Carolina, where Democrat Roy Cooper - the first Senate flip of the night - has been speaking.

"You have made your voices heard and they were loud," Cooper says, addressing his supporters from the state capital of Raleigh.

"For too many people in North Carolina, the middle class was feeling like a distant dream," while "the richest Americans were getting unimaginable wealth at our expense", he says.

Cooper adds that "chaos and corruption in Washington" were "hurting our people".

"Today you said this has to stop," the Democrat says.

"As your new United States Senator, I am ready to take that message to Washington and work to do something about it."

Polls have just closed in Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona.

The polls have now closed in almost all of the states with key Senate races - except for Alaska, which is still open.

Chris Jeavans
Data journalist

Here are some more details from the voter poll, suggesting how different groups cast their ballots in the elections for the House of Representatives.

White voters have voted for Republican candidates by 51% to 47% for Democrats, according to these estimates.

All other groups have voted more for Democratic candidates, with Hispanic and Latino voters breaking for them by an estimated 60% compared to 35% for Republicans.

Voters without a college education have voted more for Republicans in this election, by 51% to 45%, the survey suggests.

Those with a college degree have voted Democrat by 61% to 36%.

Chris Jeavans
Data journalist

We’ve got our first look at how different groups say they have voted for candidates in the House of Representatives, according to updated national voter poll data.

It suggests women have backed Democratic candidates by 57%, to 41% for Republicans.

Men appear to be divided with 49% voting for Republican candidates and 48% for Democrats.

By age, almost two-thirds under 45 said they have voted Democrat. The middle-aged group, 45-64, are split with 49% backing the Democrats and 48% voting Republican.

Slightly more than half the over-65s (51%) said they voted Republican and 47% for Democratic candidates.

These figures are from a wide-ranging survey of voters, carried out by pollsters SSRS.

Helena Humphrey
Reporting from Bangor, Maine

Polls have closed in Maine, and Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins has made an appearance at her campaign watch party in Bangor - where we are.

Entering to Tina Turner’s The Best, she was greeted with raucous applause from her supporters.

"I have the best federal and campaign staff of anybody anywhere," she told the crowd, many sporting red Susan Collins campaign sweatshirts.

Reflecting on the campaign, Collins said she had travelled across the state, where, in her view, "the reception was warm, and the response could not have been better".

But she acknowledged it could be a long night - Maine is one of the slowest states to count.

"Have a wonderful evening. Let’s celebrate," she said, striking an upbeat tone - despite the fact that her race against Democrat Troy Jackson is seen as being extremely tight.

First flip of the night a notable achievement for Democratspublished at 01:45 GMT

01:45 GMT

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent in Washington DC

Image source, Reuters

We have our first Senate flip of the night.

For weeks it has appeared likely that former Governor Roy Cooper would win the North Carolina Senate race, given that he had a comfortable lead in the polls and Republicans had redirected their campaign spending from the state to other battlegrounds.

Still, it is a notable achievement.

The last time the Democrats won a Senate race in the state was 2008, despite the party making enormous investment in time and money behind their candidates in recent contests.

This was expected to be a tough fight. Instead, the Democrat cruised to victory.

With this pickup, Democrats now have to flip three more Republican-held seats, while holding all their own seats, in order to take control of the Senate.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from Washington DC

Poll closures typically travel from east to west (with some exceptions), and we’re about to see the last votes cast in midwestern states like Nebraska, New Mexico, Iowa and Minnesota.

Those last two in particular are ones to watch.

There’s a competitive Senate contest in Iowa, where Republican Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek are vying for a seat in a state Trump won three times.

In Minnesota, it’s the governor’s race we're following. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, is seeking to take the seat left by current Governor Tim Walz, who dropped out over a social services fraud scandal.

Nada Tawfik
North America correspondent in Detroit, Michigan

The Mike Rogers election night watch party is just down the street from Abdul El-Sayed’s one in Detroit.

I’ve took a moment before polls closed to get the Republican take on the state of the race. Strategist Jason Cabel Roe says he is still optimistic, but not confident that Republican Mike Rogers will win.

Republican polling shows independents are breaking towards Democrats, he tells me. But he says Republican turnout is higher than usual on election day, which he believes could help cut into the Democratic advantage.

Roe admits that El-Sayed is a better communicator than Rogers, and says the Republican's style is better suited to an earlier era of campaigning. He wishes Rogers would display his “gravitas” more.

But Roe also believes the Republican nominee’s “careful” approach has worked to his advantage compared to what he sees as El-Sayed’s “combative style".

He bets that has helped Rogers make inroads with black and Jewish voters who weren’t enthusiastic about El-Sayed.

Image source, Getty Images

Freya Scott-Turner
Live reporter

Want to dive deeper into the numbers, then head over to our live results page.

Blue wave or red wall? We have a map of the US that will gradually get filled in as we hear results. You can toggle between the Senate, House and governor races as well as search for candidates.

Follow the counting: For the Senate and House races, where we are tracking the percentage of votes counted so far in key races.

Looking for something specific? We also have state-by-state analysis for your perusal, complete with maps which you can filter by district or search for a specific town.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump has just released a short video on the Republicans' X page, calling on voters who are currently standing in line waiting to cast their ballots to stay in line - even after polls have closed.

"Hi Republicans. We're doing really well. If you're in line, stay in line," says Trump.

State voting rules say that voters who are already queuing when polls close can still vote as long as they wait for their turn.

"We're gonna win it big," Trump adds.

Carl Nasman
Reporting from Atlanta, Georgia

Well, that didn't take long.

Only about 40 minutes after the polls closed in Georgia, massive cheers rippled through the Georgia Democrats watch party as Senator Jon Ossoff was projected to win his race against Republican challenger Mike Collins.

Only a year ago Ossoff was considered vulnerable, but we have seen first hand the enthusiasm on the ground for him and his party across the state.

Now the question will be if it is a sign of things to come across the country tonight.