The Republicans look poised to claim the US House of Representatives - but votes on the Senate are still too close to call.

Results are flooding in as polls close for the nation's midterm elections, which decide who controls the two Chambers of Congress. A Republican-ruled Congress could leave Democrat President Joe Biden hamstrung and unable to pass laws.

TVNZ US correspondent Anna-Burns Francis says the Republicans have already picked up five extra seats in the House.

She says the party only needed to pick up two or three seats to get control - and any more is generous.

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