Leo XIV has become the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election, casting a mail-in ballot in a contest that will decide America's future as the Trump era slowly comes to an end.

The surge is especially pronounced in Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House and governor's races. More than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola denied Thursday that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas.

Third-party Libertarian candidates threaten to siphon votes from Republicans in competitive states and could imperil the party's chances of holding its narrow majority over Democrats.

When Americans cast their ballots in this year's midterm elections, they'll not only be picking who represents them in Congress, but also weighing in on a range of topics that could change their state laws and constitutions.

The Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for New Hampshire to fully ban the use of student IDs for voting during the midterm elections.