While most of the focus approaching Tuesday’s midterm elections are on gubernatorial and congressional races, several state ballots feature questions on social issues like abortion.
In Colorado, voters will weigh in on a personhood proposal that would define a pregnancy as beginning at conception.
There are also abortion restriction measures on the ballot in Tennessee and North Dakota.
The Atlantic’s Molly Ball says such ballot initiatives can be used to drive turnout in non-presidential election years.
But Jeff Mason, Reuters’ White House Correspondent, said they also offer a forecast for 2016.
“Some of these social issues always end up being a part of the national conversation for presidential campaigns but when you see them on ballots like this in states it just reinforces the fact that it is not just theoretical. It is not just about conservative versus liberal or progressive,” Mason said. “These are actual measures and laws … It’s still a huge issue and it continues to come up in very specific local and state races.”
Watch the full discussion above.