How does the battle for control of Congress end?

The first results are expected to appear today, Tuesday, after the closure of polling stations in the American midterm elections.

Voting will end first in some electoral districts on the East Coast at 2 PM Baghdad time.

Results will continue to come in throughout Tuesday evening, and it is likely that the results of some races will not be known until Wednesday or later, as voting concludes in more states and officials begin to announce the number of votes counted.

However, the appearance of initial results does not necessarily mean that the name of the winner will be announced, as election officials release the vote counts sequentially as they process the ballots, while news organizations - such as the Associated Press - analyze these figures to determine the winner of the electoral race.

Deciding close races may take hours, or even days. Furthermore, it could remain unclear for several days whether Republicans will retain control of Congress or whether Democrats will succeed in securing a majority in either chamber of Congress or both.