Election Day 2011: Tuesday, November 8

Tomorrow is Election Day! We might still have a year to go before the Presidential elections, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of important reasons to head to the polls tomorrow, November 8.

Voters in Mississippi and Kentucky will be electing their Governors, with Mississippi holding its legislative elections as well. New Jersey and Virginia will also be holding their state legislative elections. Louisiana beat everyone to the punch by having their Gubernatorial election a couple weeks early, but they're waiting until November 19th to vote on their state legislature.

It's not just people on the ballot; There are nine states with ballot measures that need to be decided this year. Texas leads this group with a whopping 10 ballot measures for Election Day 2011. The battle over ballot measures in Mississippi is looking particularly heated, with a law that would come close to banning abortion up for a vote, and another mandating that voters present ID at the polls. In Colorado, legislation to raise the states income and sales taxes are on the ballot, while Ohio will be deciding if it should repeal a law limiting the collective bargaining rights of state employees. You can read more about the ballot measures in your state by going to Ballotpedia.org.

And let's not forget the numerous mayoral elections that will be happening in cities around the country. Eight of the 25 largest cities in the U.S. will elect a Mayor this week, including Phoenix and Indianapolis, where the races are considered most competitive.  San Francisco interim Mayor Ed Lee has also garneted national attention, and generated some popular music videos. You can learn more about all the mayoral races here.

If you need any help finding your polling location you can check out this website. Hopefully you won't have any problems voting this Tuesday, but if you do, be sure to call the Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683).

That's all folks. When there's an election, it's important to hit the polls and make your voice heard!