Alaskan voters go to the polls today to vote on several issues, but one of the biggest is the Senate race that has the Senate turned upside down. Redistricting has brought all but one Senator back to the race this year.

The only Senator without a dog in the race is Juneau’s Senator Dennis Egan. All of the rest of the senate seats are coming up for a vote because of the massive resistricting that took place this past year. Up for grabs are 19 of the state’s 20 seats in the senate.

At stake is the Senate’s 16-member coalition that currently dominates the 20 seat Senate. Today’s vote by Alaskans may or may not show the Senate’s Bi-Partisan Coalition to the door. The coalition has been in the sights of many well-funded Republican campaign drives for the past few months. It was the coalition that blocked the push by Governor Parnell and the Republican State House to lower taxes for the oil producers in the state for the past two years. The 16-member coalition wants the oil companies to step up and show that they are willing to spend that extra money to increase production before the money is given to them. It was that stance that has many in the opposition pushing to eliminate the coalition of 10 democrats and six Republicans.

Many say that the tax rate oil producers pay has to be lowered to incentivize the production of new oil in the state. But many others feel that the oil companies are doing fine without the cuts and Alaska should do everything possible to continue to get its fair share of the profits being pumped from beneath Alaska’s North Slope. The advertising push for the issue as increasingly inundated voters as today neared.

Another of the issues being brought up for a vote this year is the possibility of a Constitutional Convention. This issue is brought forward after each and every census. While some groups are pushing for a convention, a large majority of the population are opposed, saying that the state’s amendment process is more than adequate for dealing with the state’s constitutional issues.

Bond issues are also a major portion of Alaska’s vote this election cycle. Voters will decide whether to fund $453 million in bonds for transportation projects. The Port of Anchorage is one of those projects. That project has continually been plagued with cost over-runs and design issues. Alaskans are being asked to fund an additional $50 million to that project. Voters are going into that funding request with blindfolds as the draft review determining if that project can be built as designed won’t be released until days after the election is over.

It is also time again to vote for the State’s Representative to Washington. Don Young, who has been in that seat since 1973, faces little known and poorly funded Democrat Sharon Cissna. Young is facing his 21st election.

Alaska voter turnout for this election cycle’s primary election was the poorest in a decade at 25.4%. This is often the case when the election lacks a gubernatorial or Senate race.

But, no matter which stance you have on the many issues at hand in today’s general election. Make your voice heard and get out and cast your ballot.