Election Day conversation will understandably be dominated by one major question: Which presidential candidate will accumulate enough electoral votes to be declared the winner? But beyond Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney, and even beyond the federal, state and local candidates, voters will decide on 174 state ballot questions with implications for everything from in-state tuition for eligible undocumented immigrants to marriage equality to the rights of unions to engage in political activity.
Think Progress breaks down five major non-White House issues with huge implications for many Americans that will be decided today.
1. In-state tuition for eligible undocumented immigrants in Maryland. Maryland voters will vote on Question 4, deciding whether a state DREAM Act, passed by the legislature, should go into law …
2. Marriage equality could be enacted in Maine, Maryland, and Washington. Voters in Maryland (Question 6), Maine (Question 1), and Washington (Referendum 74) will vote on whether to enact marriage equality for same-sex couples …
3. Marijuana could be legalized in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. Colorado's Amendment 64 and Washington's Initiative 502 would legalize and regulate sales of small quantities of marijuana to residents 21 years and older …
4. Unions in California could lose their power to engage in political activity. California's Proposition 32 would prevent labor unions from collecting money from their membership to pay for political activities, while doing nothing about corporations which, thanks to Citizens United, can spend as much of their corporate treasury funds on electioneering as they wish …
5. Extreme anti-tax rules could be enacted in Florida, Michigan, and Washington. Florida voters will decide whether to accept Amendment 3, a so-called “Taxpayer Bill of Rights,” which limits public spending and revenue collection through a harmful proscribed formula …
Read more at Think Progress.