Election Day is only one element of the US midterms. The news will be starting to report results on the 3rd of November, but voters should not be under any illusion that every race will be decided that day. Election officials still have ballots to count, signatures to verify and results to certify. In some states there's also a window for mail in ballots (postmarked by Election Day) to arrive after the election and still be counted.
Here's what voters need to know about election night results, mail voting and the steps that follow prior to the final numbers being certified, as per a report by Bipartisan Policy Center.
