Tuesday is Election Day. Yes, it's only midterm elections, but it is your patriotic duty to vote or this thing called democracy just wouldn't work.

The country faces one of the most evenly divided elections in history and now more than ever, a single vote can change the balance of things. Just ask Al Gore from a couple of years ago. The Democrats lead the Senate by only one seat with 34 seats up for grabs, 6 of which are considered competitive. The Republicans lead the House by 6 seats with all 435 seats up, with only 44 competitive. Pundits are concluding the House will stay with the Republicans but the Senate is a toss-up.

Here in California, we're in a region the national parties have forgotten. Why? We're mostly Democrats. And with a stronghold like this, resources don't need to be devoted to us. But there are key races to be decided tomorrow, if you're registered to vote. Most important is Governor. Bill Simon and Gray Davis have run negative campaigns that has scared away the electorate (Only 58% voter turnout expected with 25% undecided as to how they'll vote). So now it's a question of who is the lesser of two evils. If you believe a professional polling service, Davis has a seven point lead. Believe Simon, you've got a 1-2 point race. Believe Davis, it's up to 10-15. As one of the few people registered as a Republican in Berkeley, (so few in fact, articles have been written about it), Simon is it for me since Davis has proven he can't do the job: he isn't well-liked, hasn't been able to work with the Legislature, let a budget surplus turn into the largest budget deficit in state history, allowed the power to turn off, earns campaign money every chance he gets, and the list goes on and on. No, Simon isn't perfect at all. His missteps during the campaign, false accusations, taking a position and then taking it back, shows off his inexperience. But the last time accusations like this were being made, we got George W. Bush into the White House. So it might not be so bad after all.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was here recently to promote his proposition, Prop 49, the after school initiative. Supposedly, it increases funding for more after school programs to keep kids off the streets. It's a nice idea, but vote no. In these tough times, money needs to be allocated where it's needed. This initiative will just tie up the money for after school programs and nothing else. Besides, today, after school programs receive lots of money already. Placing a guarantee on this money will just make times harder, possibly cutting into education funding all together, which is something that should be avoided.

Proposition 52 should also be voted down. Same-day voter registration not only is open to fraud, but it adds an extra burden to counties trying to modernize voting systems and making sure votes are counted correctly. Heck, I voted absentee this time and I still got a chad ballot. So you can imagine how many problems poll workers will face on election night.

In Berkeley, we're trying to elect a new mayor. The incumbent, Shirley Dean, is facing a tough battle against Tom Bates, a former state assemblyman. Both have good qualities. Whoever gets elected will do a fine job. So tie goes to Dean since she's already mayor. The most important city measure is Measure P, regulating the heights of buildings on University, San Pablo, and other major streets in Berkeley. Some residents are worried tall buildings will pop up all around the city, making that closed-in feeling until the city is just gone, gone, gone. Height limits like the ones this measure is proposing are ridiculous. There's already reasonable height restrictions in the books already and public input, already pretty lengthy considering when I'm channel-surfing at midnight, the City Council meetings are still going on, will make sure buildings are built the way they want it.

Back home in San Jose, not much is going on. We still have the same Congresswoman, basically running unopposed. No other seats are up for grabs. The major measure is Measure F, increasing the hotel tax. I never stay in a hotel there, so it won't affect me.

So go out and vote. And you'll get a cool sticker too.