The latest public opinion polls out of Georgia show that Governor Nathan Deal has opened up a bit of lead on his opponent, Democrat Jason Carter -- by as much as 6 points, according to a WSB-TV/Landmark poll. The same poll shows Republican David Perdue leading by 4 points over Democrat Michelle Nunn in the U.S. Senate race.

On Tuesday, November 4, all 435 seats in the U.S. House, 36 U.S. Senate seats, 36 governorships, and several state and local offices will be up for election. Many of these races were long decided during the primary election season, making the general election just a formality.

The race for control of the Senate may not end on November 4. If none of the candidates hoping to replace retiring Georgia U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) garner 50 percent plus one of the vote, the Peach State will hold a runoff between the top two on January 6, 2015.

Tuesday will mark the 114th time Americans will go to the polls and decide who will represent them in Congress -- well, some Americans anyway.

Are 'We the People' still a democracy when barely half of us regularly participate?

On Election Day, just 35 of the 435 congressional seats up for election will have a competitive race, with less than half the voting population likely to vote in the 2014 midterm elections.

The cornerstone of our democracy -- elections -- are becoming so utterly predictable that the House of Representatives does not represent the majority of Americans, who are increasingly choosing not to register with either major party.

In Illinois' 15th Congressional District, veteran incumbent U.S. Representative John Shimkus, a Republican, is running against a lightly-funded Democratic challenger, Eric Thorsland. Taxes and jobs have dominated the candidates' talking points, and while both candidates have quite a bit of agreement, one issue has been generally neglected throughout the campaign: foreign policy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsSNGBMMubM

Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul appeared on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer on Sunday. Paul, who has been campaigning across the nation for conservative candidates ahead of Election Day, backed up some sharp criticism for the direction of his own political party.

Schieffer asked, "You said and this is your quote, the Republican brand sucks. That's a pretty unusual rallying cry in an election year."

On Monday, November 3, the EndPartisanship.org coalition filed an appellant brief with the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey, maintaining the argument that the current primary system in the state grants the Republican and Democratic parties a monopoly over the election process while denying 47 percent of the electorate equal and meaningful access to the voting process:

During every midterm and presidential election year, traditional media outlets pull out their electoral maps that paint every congressional district in a deep shade of red or blue, depending on who is currently the incumbent and who is expected to win in that election. Most of the time, if a district is a toss-up, it will not be colored in at all.

While traditional models for electoral maps do not accurately represent changes in voter preferences, there is one map that shows the tragic reality of politics in the United States:

New Jersey is a decidedly purple state at the moment. Nearly half of the registered voting population is not affiliated with either major party. Voters have elected a Republican governor, two Democratic senators, and mostly supported Obama in 2008 and 2012. Currently, six Democrats and six Republicans represent New Jersey in the U.S. House.