Along with choosing the next president and who will sit in Congress, voters across the United States are deciding more than 170 ballot initiatives.

From rights for illegal immigrants and abortion funding to assisted suicide and the right to hunt, these issues are as emotional and important to many voters as the presidential race itself.

Ballot initiatives generally get on the ballot when enough voters sign petitions to put them there.

Voters in three states — Colorado, Oregon, and Washington — are being asked to decide whether to legalize marijuana.

Maryland voters have three major issues to consider — legalizing gay marriage, offering in-state school tuition to illegal immigrants, and whether to allow more casinos to open.

In California, voters will decide whether to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment with no chance of parole and Florida voters must consider whether to ban the use of public funds for abortions.