US President Donald Trump has made a last bid for voters to back the Republican party on the eve of the mid-term election.
“Everything we have achieved is at stake tomorrow,” he said during a blitz of three final rallies.
The nationwide vote on Tuesday is being seen as a referendum on his presidency.
His ability to govern in the final two years of his term will hinge upon the outcome.
Americans are going to the polls to vote on all 435 seats in the House, 35 of the 100 Senate seats and dozens of state governors.
With the control of Congress up for grabs, the president has ratcheted up rhetoric on divisive issues in a bid to energise his base.
Former President Barack Obama – on the campaign trail for the Democratic party – said earlier on Monday that “the character of our country is on the ballot”.
On Twitter, he said the vote “might be the most important of our lifetimes”.
The mid-terms will decide which party will control the two houses of Congress.
If Republicans maintain their hold on the Senate and the House of Representatives, they could build on their agenda and that of President Trump.
But if the Democrats wrest control of one or both chambers, they could stymie or even reverse Mr. Trump’s plans.
Pollsters suggest Democrats may win the 23 seats they need to take over the House of Representatives, and possibly 15 or so extra seats.
However, the Democrats are expected to fall short of the two seats they need to win control of the Senate.
Governors are also being chosen in 36 out of 50 states.
After months of campaigning, speculation, and billions of dollars spent on adverts, leaflets and bumper stickers, voters will have their final say on Tuesday.
Democratic candidates for the House of Representative have raised $649m (£500m) from individual donors, more than doubling the $312m tally for the Republicans.
Democrats are hoping to achieve a “mid-term wave” – a sweeping victory that changes the shape of the political map in the US.
Many people have already voted.
Some 34.3 million people have cast early ballots and the real number is probably higher, according to the US Elections Project, a University of Florida-based information source. That figure in 2014 was just 27.5 million.
In Texas, early voting has exceeded the entire turnout in 2014.
However, thunderstorms are forecast for Tuesday along the eastern coast, as well as snowstorms in the Midwest, which could affect turnout.
The first polls close at 18:00 EST (23:00 GMT).
During his final campaign rallies in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, Mr. Trump returned to his key campaigning issues, including insisting that Democrats would damage the economy and allow more illegal immigration.
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Democratic candidates, meanwhile, have tended to avoid directly confronting the president, focusing instead on so-called “kitchen table” issues, such as healthcare and economic inequality.
The party hopes younger voters, suburban moderates and minorities will be drawn to the polls to react against the president’s rhetoric.
Suicides among Japanese young people hit 30-year high
Child suicides in Japan are the highest they have been in more than three decades, the country’s education ministry says.
In the fiscal year 2016/7 up to March, 250 children from elementary to high school age were recorded as having taken their own lives.
The number is five more than last year, and the highest it has been since 1986.
Concerns the children had reported included family problems, worrying about their futures and bullying.
But schools said the reasons behind about 140 of the deaths are unknown as the students did not leave a note.
Most of those who took their lives were of high school age, where Japanese students typically study until they are aged 18.
A report released by Japan’s Cabinet Office in 2015 looked at child suicide data in the country from 1972-2013, which recognised a massive peak at the start of the second term of the school year on 1 September.
Japan had one of the highest suicide rates in 2015 but since preventative measures were introduced, the figures have dropped, according to World Health Organization.
Overall suicides across Japan fell to about 21,000 in 2017, police say, down from a peak of about 34,500 in 2003.
However, child suicide rates remain relatively high – making it the leading cause of death among young people in the country.
“The number of suicides of students have stayed high, and that is an alarming issue which should be tackled,” education ministry official Noriaki Kitazaki said as the latest figures were released.