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Here's what's been happening at the polls on Election Day

Long lines, phantom candidates, and Megyn Kelly's still canceled. Here's what you need to know about Election Day 2018.
Here's what's been happening at the polls on Election Day

Polling stations have opened across the U.S. as people vote in an election that Donald Trump has labeled the “hottest thing.”

A record number of early votes, cast before polls even opened Tuesday morning, indicate a renewed interest in an election that everyone — even Trump himself — is looking at as a barometer of how well Trump’s presidency is performing.

It became clear early on, however, that the long lines at polling stations across the country aren't just due to large turnout — they're also a result of broken machines, staff failing to show up, and even increased humidity.

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The first polls don’t close until 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, and it will likely be hours later before we first get a real sense of whether the Democrats have retaken the House and the Republicans have held onto control of the Senate.

Here’s a look at what's happening across the country as tens of millions of people make their way to vote:

Problems at the polls

People may have been concerned about the Kremlin trying to hack voting machines and influence people’s decision, but on Tuesday the most visible problems have been caused by workers not showing up to open voting stations, electrical outages, and certain weather conditions.

In Brooklyn, broken voting machines and scanners resulted in early-morning long lines:

There appear to be similar problems in Gwinnett County, Georgia, where only paper ballots can be cast.

The voting machines at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Detroit didn’t have a chance to break down — because there were no machines in place, resulting in voters being turned away.

In Cedar Bluff Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee, voters had to use paper ballots and fill them in outdoors after a power failure on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile in North Carolina, the State Board of Elections says humidity is causing havoc.

Incorrect information

There are numerous reports of voters being sent incorrect information through calls, texts and emails. Much of the attention has been focused on TurboVote, an app that sends users reminders about registration deadlines, upcoming elections and information on where to vote.

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According to the app’s website, more than 3 million voters have signed up. The app was created by a nonprofit called Democracy Works.

Lawyers for Civil Rights reports that its election hotline has already received multiple reports of voters being sent inaccurate information. Responding to some of the complaints on Twitter, TurboVote said its data comes directly from the Voting Information Project and the states themselves.

In Rhode Island, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea said she had received some complaints about inaccurate information coming from a third-party app, while the New Jersey Department of State, in a now-deleted tweet, said it had received “reports of people getting texts, calls or emails with wrong info” regarding where they should be voting.

Confusion in Arizona

After indicating she was going to do so last week, late Monday night Green Party candidate Angela Green formally pulled out of the Senate race in Arizona.

A form showing Green’s departure suggested her votes would not be counted, but according to the man in charge of Arizona’s election, State Election Director Eric Spencer, the form in question was designed for the primaries and said Green’s votes would be counted:

“Any votes cast for Ms. Green WILL be tabulated and canvassed just like any other candidate on the ballot. A withdrawal this late merely has the effect of being noted at the polling place, nothing more,” Spencer said on Twitter, also confirming that Green’s name will remain on the ballot.

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Green indicated last week that she was urging her supporters to throw their weight behind Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the tight battle against Republican Martha McSally.

Megyn Kelly still canceled

Megyn Kelly, who is currently negotiating her departure from NBC following her on-air questioning of what is so wrong with blackface at Halloween, will not be on our TV screens Tuesday night, according to Page Six.

Kelly was originally slated to appear alongside network heavyweights Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd as part of NBC’s special midterm coverage. But a Monday promo for the show — entitled “The Vote: America’s Future” — didn’t feature Kelly.

A source inside NBC told Page Six that Kelly is “not going to be part of election-night coverage.” The network didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Go Vote

The most visited site on the internet, Google.com, displayed a Go Vote message together with links for helping users find out where to vote.

The company also revealed that on Tuesday morning the search phrase “Dónde votar” (“where to vote” in Spanish) was the top trending search on Google in the U.S. — spiking 3,350 percent.

In fact, three of the top five trending search topics in the U.S. on Tuesday related to the midterms: Polling place (+350 percent), voting (+300 percent) and election day (+300 percent).

Cover image:

People vote at the Galleria at Sunset mall on November 6, 2018 in Henderson, Nevada. Americans vote on their choices of candidates in this midterm election, which is seen by many as a referendum on President Donald Trump. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)