This article will be regularly updated with additional information including election results as it becomes available.

A number of polling places on the East Coast had opened by 7 a.m. on Tuesday as voters who didn’t participate in early voting look to cast their ballots in midterm elections with plenty at stake regardless of political affiliation.

However, with that said, Black voters and candidates arguably have the most to gain – and lose – depending on results in key races that range from governor’s seats to the U.S. Senate to the U.S. House to mayors and other contests further down ballots.

Notably, Stacey Abrams has been waging a strong gubernatorial campaign in Georgia in a second consecutive run against Brian Kemp. Also in Georgia, Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock has been engaged in a tight race against football star-turned-candidate Herschel Walker, whose campaign has been steadily pelted by repeated bombshell revelations that do not seem to have affected his candidacy.

It is also in Georgia where Black voters fueled a record number of early voting in what could be an indication of what’s to come from Democrats’ most loyal voting bloc as Republicans attempt to win back the House and Senate.

Elsewhere, Wes Moore is poised to be just the third Black person ever elected governor if he wins his race in Maryland, where polling suggests a landslide victory is on the horizon. Moore, Abrams and Deidre DeJear in Iowa are the only Black gubernatorial nominees this year.

In Wisconsin, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is seeking to beat incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in a race that’s been marked by racist dog whistles against the younger Democrat.

Other notable Black candidates include U.S. Rep. Val Demings, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate running against Republican Sen. Marco Rubio; Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who was famously blamed for not charging police officers for Breonna Taylor’s killing, is running for governor; Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general whose office secured the conviction of Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd, is up for re-election; and California U.S. Rep. Karen Bass is running for mayor in Los Angeles.

A number of notable issues of particular interest to Black voters are on ballots across the country, including but not limited to slavery, education and reproductive justice.

Other issues Black voters should be aware of that are not on the ballot but can certainly affect their ability to cast them include misinformation campaigns and other efforts that aim to disenfranchise Black voters.

There’s also the issue of election challenges, which arise when any registered voter challenges the right of another voter, or group of voters, to cast a ballot by alleging that they are not qualified to do so. Experts say such challenges have an outsized effect on Black voters stemming from overall voter suppression efforts.

It is for those above and plenty of other reasons that voting activists, organizers and advocates have been working overtime to increase election awareness for Black voters in particular who already must contend with a series of new election laws that critics say make it harder to vote.

But voter suppression is nothing new and if 2020 is any indication of the type of voting power we can expect from Black people at the polls this year, Democrats can expect to be saved yet again by the influential but often overlooked demographic.

This is America.

SEE ALSO:

Black Georgia Democrat Who Lost Lieutenant Governor Race Endorses Republican Ticket

New York Times List Of Black Senator Candidates Excludes Two From Louisiana

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