UPDATE: You can follow the results from important state races here.

This really stuck in my mind after I saw it a few days ago. What this map shows is the that voter turnout is highest in the wealthiest, most conservative counties surrounding Philadelphia.

And it's what drives me crazy about the people who don't vote.

Here it is in a nutshell: The more Democrats who get into office -- in your town, city, county, state and D.C. -- the more likely you are to see the policies you want.

The less reliably you vote, the greater the odds that your elected Democratic representatives will make deals with the devil to stay in office. Purist voters hate the idea of supporting their party no matter what, but giving Democrats reliable support tends to move the ball down the progressive field. Will you get everything you want? No, but you'll be closer than you were.

Dems mostly turn out to vote in presidential years. The rest of the time? Not so much. Yet there are few political problems that aren't solved by reliable turnout. Even GOP redistricting wouldn't work if we could turn out 10% more Democratic voters.

You may not know the candidates, or the issues on the ballot. But various groups will be waiting outside your polling place to hand out sample ballots. Or you may have a friend who follows such things closely; you can ask for their recommendations. (I always send a group email the night before an important election.)

With rare exceptions, it is the case that voting for any Democrat is better than any Republican. (I stopped splitting tickets years ago, once I realized the GOP uses fresh "reasonable" faces as protective cover. Nope, I won't vote for them.)

So get out and vote today. Or quitcher whining.