The BBC’s Chris Vallance is looking for podcasters to help provide comprehensive coverage of the US mid-term elections.

“We’ll be visiting Connecticut and Pennsylvania and on election night (Nov 7th) in Washington DC – but we can’t be everywhere and there many fascinating races we’d like to cover,” said Vallance. “So we’d like your help in reporting the election – polls and the results on the night of the race will only give us half the story. We’d like to know what it looks like from the ground.”

If you’d like to be a Five Live “Citizen Reporter” during the election, you can contact the BBC at upallnight (at) bbc.co.uk.

Here’s what they are looking for:

• Personal views of the race from people with an interesting perspective (perhaps you are a recent immigrant or an Iraq vet for example)
• Bloggers, podcasters and vloggers who are covering their local race.
• Anyone with a real interest in local politics and an ability to tell the story of the race in their town and state.
• People from overseas with a real stake in the result.

They suggest several types of contributions they are interested in:

• Phone or skype interviews
• Emailing an audio report
• Emailing a short written report to be read on air
• Tips about a blog, podcast or vlog you’ve made covering the election.
• Pointing them to a story idea

“Our hope is that by enlisting your help we’ll have coverage that isn’t just about pundits and experts but gives us a real flavour of what the race is like for ordinary Americans that cuts through some of the stereotypes about politics in the US,” adds Vallance.