Fan balloting for the All Star Game roster comes to a close tonight at one minute till midnight eastern time. At last report there was a five-way race for top vote-getter.  As the voting window closes there are several key races for starting position players in the American League and National League that are coming down to the wire (more here).

The ballot has already eclipsed 500 million votes, exceeding the record of 391 million votes in 2012.

The AL All-Star Team will have nine elected starters via the fan balloting program, while the NL All-Star Team will have eight fan-elected starters.

The pitchers and reserves for both squads – totaling 25 for the NL and 24 for the AL – will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers – NL skipper Bruce Bochy of the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants and AL manager Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals.

Following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League’s 34-man roster via the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote. Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over the balloting period.

This year’s final phase of All-Star Game voting will once again have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans’ collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year’s recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.