US votes with Biden agenda at stake and Trump in the wings

Americans headed to the polls on Tuesday in the midterm elections, in which Republicans are chasing a congressional majority that would hobble Democratic President Joe Biden's agenda and serve as a springboard for another White House run by Mr Donald Trump.

"It's Election Day, America," tweeted Mr Biden, 79, as polling stations opened in the East Coast. "Make your voice heard today. Vote."

At stake are all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, one-third of the Senate and a slew of state and local positions. Five states are holding referendums on abortion California, Vermont, Kentucky, Montana and Michigan.

First results will begin trickling in after 8am Singapore time, but with razor-thin margins in some key congressional races, a full picture may not be available for days or even weeks, setting the stage for likely acrimonious challenges.

"I want to get to work, but I also want to make sure that I vote," Mr Robin Ghirdar, 61, a doctor, said at a polling station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "There is so much polarisation and misinformation that I would like to make sure that my voice is heard."

Mr Biden's Democrats are facing a gargantuan struggle to hang on to Congress, after a race the President has cast as a "defining" moment for United States democracy - while Mr Trump's Republicans campaigned hard on kitchen-table issues such as inflation and crime.

Former US president Trump who has all but announced he will seek the White House again in 2024 grabbed the election eve spotlight to flag "a big announcement" on Nov 15, while Mr Biden made a final appeal to Democrats to turn out en masse.