U.S. voters head to the polls today to pick the next President, but many Americans will be faced with a host of other weighty choices, from the legality of gay marriage and recreational marijuana to the future of the death penalty and immigration reform. Here’s a roundup of the top ballot initiatives around the nation:
- California could end its death penalty.
- Voters in Maine, Washington and Maryland could side with gay marriage for the first time.
- Minnesota, on the other hand, could define marriage as being solely between one woman and one man.
- Massachusetts might allow physician-assisted suicide.
- Abortion restriction is on the table in Florida.
- New Hampshire could ban a personal income tax it doesn’t have.
- Recreational pot will likely get the thumbs-up in Colorado, Washington and maybe even Oregon.
- Maryland could veto its own Dream Act.
- Kentucky, Nebraska, Wyoming and Idaho may make hunting a constitutional right.
- Louisiana could strengthen the right to keep and bear arms.
- Affirmative action could end in Oklahoma.
- Wyoming could sidestep Obamacare’s insurance mandate or at least try to do so.
Other items to watch:
- California’s Prop 37 would make it the first state to require genetically modified food to have labels identifying it as such.
- Maryland is considering a gambling expansion.
- Idaho may repeal a law on teachers’ collective-bargaining agreements.
- Arkansas, Massachusetts and Montana could legalize medical marijuana.
- Minnesota may pass an amendment requiring voters to present photo identification.
- And Montana decides on a policy declaring that corporations are not people.
PHOTOS: America Votes: Election 2012