Table of Contents

The 2026 midterm elections are on Tuesday, and ballots across the country are already streaming in. 

Prospective candidates have been in a race against time, money, and the tech industry itself, as major players pledge millions to campaigns and AI threatens to stoke mass confusion.  

Control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives is at play, as well as important gubernatorial races and statewide propositions.

Here’s how to stay in the loop on Tuesday and beyond. 

How to find reliable election results

Can’t tune into your local news station? Have you deferred paying for live TV in favor of streaming? Too busy to sit down for an evening’s worth of coverage? There’s still plenty of ways to stay informed. 

Check in with mainstream news outlets

Historically, every major news outlet has offered both online and broadcast coverage of midterm election results. Check out a list of major publishers and their online 2026 election hubs below.  

• The Associated Press 

• Bloomberg

• NBC

• CNN 

• ABC

• MSNow 

• FOX News 

• The New York Times Election Hub

• The New York Times Congressional seat tracker

Reference nonpartisan data

Other civic integrity and election safety organizations will be tracking key races, results, and voting trends surrounding the midterms:

• Brennan Center for Justice election results hub

• VoteHub congressional results tracker 

• 270toWin House election tracker

• The Voter Poll (conducted by research firm SSRS)

Tune in on social media

Some social media platforms — as well as some AI developers — have committed to monitoring live election results. A select few will also update live results on devoted pages. 

For example, X will provide a live tracker of Congressional seats at the top of the results page for midterm election searches. The tracker is powered by Decision Desk HQ. 

Check out more ways to watch live online and stream. 

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Monitor fake news, lawsuits, and more

Here are other ways you can stay informed on the state of American politics:

Tracking lawsuits against the Trump administration

President Trump’s second administration has weathered numerous legal challenges since taking power in 2025. Take a look at the legal databases below:

• Center for Progressive Reform, Trump second term tracker 

• The New York Times, Trump administration lawsuit tracker

• The Associated Press, Trump administration lawsuit tracker 

• JustSecurity, Trump administration litigation database

Tracking presidential approval ratings

Tuesday’s election may serve as a temperature check for the Trump administration’s favorability among Americans. See results of dozens of presidential polls using CNN’s polling database, or check out specific approval ratings trackers below.  

• Gallup

• Pew Research Center

• The New York Times

• The Economist

• Reuters/Ipsos

• Roper iPoll

• Nate Silver, The Silver Bulletin

Monitoring political misinformation

Meanwhile, AI-powered, politically motivated misinformation, deepfakes, and other misleading posts are running rampant online. 

Misinformation watchdog NewsGuard is tracking fake news headlines, deepfakes, and other false claims surrounding the 2026 midterms and foreign political operations.

The Brennan Center for Justice tracks and publishes articles debunking claims about election security and civic processes.  

Find all of PolitiFact’s midterm-related fact checks on its elections page.