U.S. Voters Decide Control of Congress as Polls Open Nationwide

WASHINGTON, MELBOURNE & CHICAGO — Polls opened across the United States on Tuesday, November 3, for the 2026 midterm elections deciding control of the 120th Congress and 36 statehouses, while international and federal courts opened high-profile proceedings in Melbourne and Illinois.

2026 U.S. Midterm Elections: 435 House Seats, 35 Senate Contests, and 57 Million Early Votes

As reported by CBS News, more than 57 million Americans cast early in-person or mail-in ballots ahead of Tuesday's Election Day contests across all 50 states:

• U.S. House of Representatives (All 435 Seats): Republicans enter Election Day holding a narrow 218–214 (219–214) majority with vacancies, meaning Democrats need a net gain of 3 seats to win a 218-seat House majority. Ad-tracking data shows that 88.1%—more than $850 million—of Republican House television advertising since Labor Day was spent defending districts that President Donald Trump carried in 2024.
• U.S. Senate (35 Seats) & 36 Governors' Races: Republicans currently hold a 53–47 Senate majority, requiring Democrats to achieve a net gain of 4 seats to win outright Senate control. Key Senate battlegrounds include Republican-held seats in Maine (Senator Susan Collins), North Carolina, Ohio (appointed Senator Jon Husted vs. former Senator Sherrod Brown), and Alaska (where former Representative Mary Peltola is challenging Senator Dan Sullivan), alongside Democratic-held seats in Georgia (Senator Jon Ossoff) and Michigan. Voters are also electing 36 state governors.

Australia's High Court Opens Two-Day Hearing on Constitutional Challenges to Under-16 Social Media Ban

In Melbourne, ABC News Australia reported that a full bench of 7 judges on Australia's High Court began a 2-day hearing on Tuesday examining 2 separate constitutional challenges to Australia's world-first under-16 social media ban, which took effect in December 2025.

The law requires 10 designated platforms—including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, X, and Reddit—to block accounts held by users under age 16 or face civil penalties of up to AU$49.5 million (US$34.5 million). The first challenge was brought by the Digital Freedom Project (founded by New South Wales Libertarian legislator John Ruddick), arguing that the ban infringes the implied constitutional freedom of political communication, while Reddit filed a separate challenge arguing the law is invalid or should not apply to its pseudonymous forum structure. The hearing follows a peer-reviewed BMJ study finding that 85% of surveyed 12-to-17-year-olds continued using social media platforms after the ban took effect, while Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that authorities have deactivated millions of accounts.

Federal Judge in Illinois Allows McDonald's "McRib" Class-Action Lawsuit to Proceed

In federal consumer litigation, CBS News reported that a federal judge in Illinois denied McDonald's motion to dismiss a December 2025 class-action lawsuit filed by 4 plaintiffs over the marketing of the McRib sandwich.

First introduced in 1981 and sold during limited seasonal promotions for up to $6, the McRib is shaped to resemble a rack of pork ribs. The 4 plaintiffs allege that McDonald's misleads reasonable consumers because the sandwich patty contains zero actual pork rib meat and is instead manufactured from restructured pork shoulder, heart, tripe, scalded stomach, loin, and brisket. Rejecting McDonald's argument that customers understand the name and shape are figurative, the judge ordered McDonald's to file its formal answer to the complaint by November 20.