This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

[Above: John Oliver explains why state elections matter. It's great. But I'm not so sure about that bit about Utah legislators throwing sticks at possums.]

It's what we used to call Election Day, before it was really the last day of weeks of early and mail-in voting.

But this is really the end, not only of your chance to vote, but of the campaign ads. (Although the 2016 presidential campaign starts tomorrow.)

It is too late to pop your Utah mail-in ballot in the post. (They had to be postmarked yesterday. Ain't that always the way.) But you can still drop it by any polling station or your local county clerk's office.

In a few counties, including Salt Lake County, you can even register to vote at your polling place today. Bring ID.

Details at vote.utah.gov

So, vote, goldurn it. A lot of people went to a lot of trouble over the past 200-plus years so you could.

If anyone gives you a hard time, the Utah ACLU would like to know about it.

Then come back by sltrib.com tonight to see how it all turned out.

Until then:

— What's at stake on Election Day as Utahns vote — The Salt Lake Tribune

— News roundup: GOP victory tonight could be hollow — Political Cornflakes | The Salt Lake Tribune

— Why Wisconsin matters most to Republicans — Betsy Woodruff | Slate

— If our election happened there — Joshua Keating | Slate

"Washington, United States • On Tuesday, voters in this country of 300 million, the world's second-largest democracy and most populous Christian nation, will head to the polls for elections that will determine control of the upper house of the legislature and serve as a referendum on the country's embattled ruling regime. ..."

— Republicans bank on fear in this election — Rachel Maddow | For The Washington Post

— Painting a pointillist portrait of the nation's mind — George F. Will | The Washington Post

"Mix a pitcher of martinis Tuesday evening to fortify yourself against the torrent of election returns painting a pointillist portrait of the nation's mind. Before you become too mellow to care, consider some indexes of our civic tendencies. ..."

— Utah didn't get the suppress the vote memo — George Pyle | The Salt Lake Tribune

" ... States from North Carolina to Ohio to Kansas to Texas are trying, and sometimes getting away with, moves clearly designed to make it harder for people to vote. And when I say "people" I of course mean black people, old people, college students, people named Garcia or Kim. Not to put too fine a point on it, Democrats. ...

" ... In Utah, we're having none of it. And, given the firm grip Republicans have on all the levers of power, it's fair to wonder why. ..."

— 6 questions about voter ID laws you were too embarrassed to ask — Jenée Desmond-Harris | Vox

— The Midterm Elections: A User's Guide — David Graham | The Atlantic

— The Races To Watch in All 50 States — The New York Times

— Why the French got rid of midterm elections — Dylan Matthews | Vox

" ... In the 1980s and 90s, France struggled with the same issue, as a socialist president was forced to deal with a right-leaning parliament, and then a right-leaning president with a socialist parliament. But rather than grudgingly tolerate endless gridlock and disastrous confrontations, France decided to change its electoral system to make governing more common and paralysis rarer. ..."