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US mid-terms: Rhetoric stepped up as campaign enters final day Mid-term elections 2018: Race rows mire campaign homestretch
(about 9 hours later)
The US mid-term election campaign is entering a frenzied final day in a vote seen as a verdict on Donald Trump's presidency. Race-baiting allegations have mired the homestretch of the US mid-term elections, turning it into one of the ugliest campaigns in recent times.
The opposition Democrats are hoping to retake control of the House of Representatives, while Republicans seek to tighten their grip on the Senate. US networks have withdrawn President Donald Trump's ad about a cop-killing illegal immigrant.
Turnout is expected to be high, with more than 34 million Americans already having voted in the election. Meanwhile, racist automated calls targeted prominent African-American candidates in Florida and Georgia.
Both Donald Trump and Democrat Barack Obama rallied supporters on Sunday. Control of Congress is up for grabs in Tuesday's poll, which is being seen as a referendum on Mr Trump.
"You gotta get to the polls on Tuesday, and you gotta vote," Mr Trump said in Macon, Georgia. "The contrast in this election could not be more clear." His ability to govern in the final two years of his term will hinge upon the outcome.
In recent days Mr Trump has ramped up his rhetoric on issues like immigration, accusing Democrats of wanting to "erase America's borders" at a rally in Tennessee. Americans are voting for all 435 seats in the House, and 35 of the 100 Senate seats.
Meanwhile, former President Obama, who has been campaigning for Democratic candidates, urged Americans not to succumb to hostility and division. The Republican president - who has been holding barnstorming rallies nationwide, even though he is not up for re-election this year - campaigns in three states on Monday.
"We have seen repeated attempts to divide us with rhetoric designed to make us angry and make us fearful," he said in Miami, Florida. Mr Trump is making his closing argument to voters in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri.
"But in four days, Florida, you can be a check on that kind of behaviour." On Monday, Facebook, NBC and even the president's favourite network, Fox News, announced they would stop broadcasting a 30-second ad paid for by his campaign.
Mr Trump continues campaigning in Ohio and Indiana on Monday, before making a final stop in Missouri. The clip falsely claimed Democrats let into the US an undocumented Mexican immigrant who murdered two California sheriff's deputies in 2014.
The president last week tweeted the clip, but CNN refused to air it at the weekend, calling it "racist".
Asked about the ad on Monday, Mr Trump told a journalist: "A lot of things are offensive. Your questions are offensive a lot of times."
What about the racist robo-calls?
Automated phone calls in Florida and Georgia have dragged an already toxic political campaign to new lows.
They targeted two candidates who could become the first African-American governors of those states.
One message falsely claiming to be from US celebrity Oprah Winfrey called Stacey Abrams in Georgia "a poor man's Aunt Jemima" - referencing a controversial image of a black woman depicted as a slavery-era "mammy" figure - and other racial slurs.
The robo-call also described Ms Abrams as "someone white women can be tricked into voting for - especially the fat ones".
It was paid for by The Road to Power, a white supremacist group.
Robo-calls in Florida targeting Andrew Gillum featured a background of jungle and chimpanzee noises.
A political surrogate for Mr Gillum's white Republican rival Ron DeSantis was meanwhile accused of using a racial "dog whistle".
In Florida Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Saturday described the election as "cotton-pickin' important" - a term with overtones of slavery.
According to the Wesleyan Media Project, no other US general election in the last decade has seen close to so many attack ads as this one.
Since the start of September, nearly 570,000 attack ads have aired, says Wesleyan. The previous record, from 2010, was 450,000.
Why are voters so energised?Why are voters so energised?
Immigration remains a hot topic that Mr Trump has focused on. President Trump has argued that a Democratic takeover of Congress would trigger an influx of illegal immigrants and a crime wave.
His recent decision to send 5,000 troops to the Mexican border as a caravan of Central American migrants approaches has divided opinion. The Republican president has also been warning the other party will destroy a healthy US economy if they win the keys to power.
Democrats hope the president's hardline rhetoric will help them entice younger voters, suburban moderates and minorities to the polls. Most Democratic candidates have tended to avoid directly confronting the president, focusing instead on "kitchen table" issues such as healthcare and economic inequality.
The party hopes the president's hard-line rhetoric will help them win over younger voters, suburban moderates and minorities to the polls.
The Democrats have rolled out their biggest gun: former President Barack Obama, who travelled to Virginia on Monday to get out the vote for its candidates.
"The character of this country is on the ballot," he said.
What you need to know about mid-terms:What you need to know about mid-terms:
The gun control movement launched in the aftermath of February's high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has also mobilised.
But one of US voters' major concerns is healthcare, as Republicans have been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to kill off Mr Obama's Affordable Care Act.
Some recent events have added a further emotive dimension.
In late October, mail bombs addressed to senior Democrats and other prominent opponents of Mr Trump were intercepted.
Shortly afterwards a gunman killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Mr Trump's critics say the president has stoked a toxic political climate that encourages such attacks.
What is happening with turnout?What is happening with turnout?
Turnout is traditionally low in the US mid-terms, with the 2014 election seeing a post-war record low of just 37%.Turnout is traditionally low in the US mid-terms, with the 2014 election seeing a post-war record low of just 37%.
But analysts say a sharp rise is likely this year, with voters on both left and right energised by such issues as healthcare and immigration. But analysts say a sharp rise is likely this year.
Election officials say 34.3 million people have already voted and the real number is probably higher, according to the US Elections Project, a University of Florida-based information source. The figure in 2014 was just 27.5 million. Some 34.3 million people have already voted and the real number is probably higher, according to the US Elections Project, a University of Florida-based information source. The figure in 2014 was just 27.5 million.
In Texas, early voting has exceeded the entire turnout in 2014.In Texas, early voting has exceeded the entire turnout in 2014.
Efforts are being made across the country to get people out to vote, with businesses like Walmart, LeviStrauss and PayPal among nearly 150 companies signing up the Make Time to Vote campaign. However, thunderstorms are forecast for Tuesday along the eastern coast and snowstorms in the Midwest, which could put a dampener on turnout.
The companies are offering paid time-off and other schemes to give employees a better chance to vote. What do pollsters predict?
Ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber will be offering discounted rides to polling stations. Pollsters say Democrats may win the 23 seats they need to take over the House of Representatives, and possibly 15 or so extra seats.
What is at stake in these elections? However, Democrats are expected to fall short of the two seats they need to wrest control of the Senate from Republican hands.
Americans are voting for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and 35 of the 100 Senate seats. Governors are also being chosen in 36 out of 50 states.
Governors are also being chosen in 36 out of 50 states. In Florida and Georgia, Democrat candidates are hoping to become their states' first African American governors. The first polls close at 23:00 GMT (18:00 EST) on Tuesday.
More on the US mid-termsMore on the US mid-terms
Democrats are confident of overturning the Republican majority in the House, but a booming economy is likely to favour the Republican incumbents.
But in the Senate most of the seats being contested are currently held by Democrats. Some are considered vulnerable, as they are in states won by Mr Trump when he was elected in 2016.
So the Republicans could potentially increase their majority in the Senate.
But even losing the House would be a blow for Mr Trump, as the situation would create a potential for legislative gridlock and even government shutdown.
The key races to watch
The first polls close at 23:00 GMT (18:00 EST) on Tuesday and while it will take some time to see the full picture emerge, there are some races worth keeping an eye out for.
Democrats need to gain 23 seats in order to take the House - take a look at vulnerable House seats which Republicans currently hold in and around Orange County in California, for example.
In the Senate, Democrats have high hopes of gaining Republican-held seats in Arizona and Nevada.
They would need to make a gain of two seats to win control the Senate - but also risk losing their own Senate seats in North Dakota and Missouri.
The races for governor in Florida and Georgia are also too close to call.