Vox Sentences: What you need to know about tomorrow's elections

1. The candidates

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) faces a tough reelection race — and if he wins, he'll quite possibly lead the new Senate. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

• Happy Election Day eve! The latest polls predict at least 52 Republican seats in the Senate.

  [Vox / Andrew Prokop]

• And here are 20 Senate, governor, House, etc., races to pay attention to on Election Night.

  [Vox / Andrew Prokop]

• Twenty not enough? Here's a good rundown of what's on the ballot in each state.

  [New York Times]

• Expect about five to 12 House seats to flip to Republicans.

  [NYT / Derek Willis]

• That's actually surprisingly few, given how unpopular President Obama is.

  [FiveThirtyEight / Harry Enten]

• Coverage has focused on Congress, but don't forget about state legislatures.

  [Vox / Sarah Kliff]

• A political scientist modeled the state legislature races, and predicts Republicans will gain five state senates and nine state houses.

  [The Monkey Cage / Carl Klarner]

2. The issues

A number of marijuana-related ballot measures will be voted on tomorrow. (Sean Gallup/Getty Image)

• Three states and DC are voting on legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, either for medicinal or recreational use.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• Colorado and Oregon are voting on whether or not to require labeling on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

  [Vox / Brad Plumer]

• North Dakota, Colorado, and Tennessee are weighing abortion restrictions; North Dakota's measure would amend the state constitution to define life as beginning at conception.

  [National Journal / Lauren Fox]

• Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota are weighing minimum wage increases; if they vote in favor, 26 states and DC will have higher minimum wages than the federal minimum.

  [Washington Post / Emily Badger and Christopher Ingraham]

• Those are the main ones, but there are also a handful of notable ballot measures on everything from gambling to bear hunting on various state ballots.

  [NYT / Josh Barro]

• Want to know how the ballot measures are polling? Here's your rundown.

  [Washington Post / Niraj Chokshi]

3. The right to die

Brittany Maynard ended her life on November 1 (Courtesy of Compassion and Choices)

• Brittany Maynard, who became a vocal advocate for the right of the terminally ill to end their lives, killed herself Saturday.

  [ABC News / Dean Schabner]

• Maynard moved to Oregon because of its Death with Dignity law, the nation's oldest; here's how it works.

  [Vox / Sarah Kliff]

• "Surveys of oncologists show that some cancer doctors, when asked anonymously, will admit to helping patients die."

  [Vox / Sarah Kliff]

• The case for allowing assisted suicide: "If self-determination is a fundamental value, then the great variability among people on this question makes it especially important that individuals control the manner, circumstances, and timing of their dying and death."

  [Hastings Center / Dan Brock]

• The case against: "Patients with depression and psychological distress are most likely to request death; patients in pain are less likely to request it."

  [The Atlantic / Ezekiel Emanuel]

• That claim about assisted suicide and depression is disputed: "Rates of assisted dying in Oregon and in the Netherlands showed no evidence of heightened risk for the elderly, women, the uninsured … people with low educational status, the poor, the physically disabled or chronically ill, minors, people with psychiatric illnesses including depression, or racial or ethnic minorities."

  [Journal of Medical Ethics / Margaret Battin et al]

• The effects of legalizing euthanasia in the Netherlands: "Physicians seem to adhere to the criteria for due care in the large majority of cases. Further, it has been shown that the majority of physicians think that the euthanasia Act has improved their legal certainty and contributes to the carefulness of life-terminating acts."

  [Journal of Bioethical Inquiry / Judith Rietjens et al]

• Among other things, Maynard's death is an indictment of our system of end-of-life care, which fails to adequately protect the dying from pain and financial hardship.

  [New Republic / Harold Pollack]

4. Misc.

• Iraqi forces are planning an offensive against ISIS for next spring, using US air power to help.

  [NYT / Michael Gordon and Eric Schmitt]

• The Virgin Galactic crash had to do with the spaceship's "feathering" wings.

  [Ars Technica / Lee Hutchinson]

• Encouraging results out of Texas — looks like charter schools are improving over time.

  [Marginal Revolution / Tyler Cowen]

• Hyundai and Kia were fined for lying about their cars' gas mileage.

  [NYT / Coral Davenport and Bill Vlasic]

• Did the GOP nominate better Senate candidates, or did the media just go softer on them?

  [The Atlantic / Norm Ornstein]

• RIP, Car Talk's Tom Magliozzi

  [Vox / Todd VanDerWerff]

• What if the conventional wisdom about recovery from financial crises taking longer is wrong?

  [Christina Romer and David Romer]

• Worth remembering: the recovery is not done yet, and we haven't achieved full employment.

  [Washington Post / Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker]

• Taylor Swift pulled her music from Spotify. Everybody panic.

  [Vox / Kelsey McKinney]

5. Verbatim

• "Teenage girls, particularly teenage girls coalesced in fandoms, are perhaps the most powerful, and most underestimated, force shaping mainstream Internet culture."

  [Washington Post / Caitlin Dewey]

• "Why does my only option for long-term birth control have to involve cutting open my ballsack?"

  [The Verge / Ben Popper]

• "I’m confident he would agree that my current financial straits are an inevitable result of the current socioeconomic moment, rather than 'a permanent shitstorm born out of sheer laziness,' as you described it in your letter."

  [McSweeney's / Tommy Wallach]

• "In Domenic Recchia, the Democrats have fielded a candidate so dumb, ill-informed, evasive and inarticulate that voting for a thuggish Republican who could wind up in a prison jumpsuit starts to make rational sense."

  [New York Daily News]

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