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Some important elections have been taking place in the US called the mid-terms.

Every four years, people in the US vote to elect their president - the current one is Joe Biden.

The four years between elections - when the elected president is in office - is called a term.

So, the mid-term elections happen - you guessed it - half way through a president's term in office.

What are the mid-terms?

President Biden will be watching the result very closely because although this is not an election for a new president, the result gives an indication as to whether American people are happy with how his presidency is going.

The election itself gives people the chance to vote for politicians in a part of the government called Congress, which makes America's laws.

There are also governor positions, and state and local office positions up for grabs.

Sitting Presidents often get a bit of a rough time at this point. People who didn't vote for Joe Biden in the first place can try and make a point by voting for another party. Others may not like the way he has handled certain issues and want to show they are unhappy and want him to sort things out.

Congress is divided up into two chambers - the House of Representatives and the Senate.

In the US, there are two main political parties - the Democrats and the Republicans. Both parties want to have more politicians than their opponent in each part of Congress in order to have more control when it comes to, for example, passing laws.

All the seats in the House of Representatives are going to be fought for, with one-third of the seats in the Senate up for election.

Why are the mid-terms important?

1. They could affect Joe Biden's presidency

The result of the mid-terms could affect how the rest of Mr Biden's presidency turns out.

That's because if the president belongs to a different party to the one that has a majority of politicians in the House of Representatives or the Senate, it can be difficult for he or she to do what they want.

Going into these elections both parts of Congress are controlled by the Democratic Party, which President Biden belongs to. That's really useful for him to pass the laws he wants to because he has a majority of the support.

But the Democrats hold their power by a very thin margin, so everyone expects it to be a quite tight result!

While many seats will likely stay democrat or republican, there are around 30 seats in the House and 35 in the Senate which experts think could swing the result either way.

If the Democrats lose either one of the two chambers it will almost certainly make it more difficult for him to do as he wants for the remaining two years of this term.

There are many issues that President Biden and the American people are dealing with. Like the UK, there are worries about the cost of living, immigration and crime.

Historically, they are vote-winning issues for Republicans, but there are lots of factors that could effect the thinking of voters and what matters most to them, so we shall have to wait and see.

2. They can affect campaigns for the next presidential election

Next year, campaigning will begin for the next presidential election and local state governors can be very important in supporting their party's candidates, by arranging donors and setting up volunteers.

The new governors and local state officials also up for election could have an effect on presidential campaigning over the next couple of years.

And if the results are favourable to the Republican party that could mean the return of one man. Donald Trump.

Once the new politicians take up their seats in January the next big date in US politics is the presidential election in 2024.

Presidents can only serve two four-year terms in office. As Joe Biden will only have served one term by the next presidential election, he can stand again.

And so too could Donald Trump. Mr Trump only served one term in office before losing the election to democratic candidate Mr Biden in 2020, so technically he can have another shot at the top job and stand for President again.

3. They can affect people outside of the US

Mid-terms are also important for people outside of the US, like us here in the UK.

That's because decisions made by the US government can affect people all around the world - for example, decisions about whether or not to go to war, or how to protect the environment.

The relationship between the US and its allies has and always will be crucial, especially in light of the war in Ukraine. How the President and other world leaders deal with Russia is something that affects us all.