Photo by Mr. T in DC

It’s time to get out there and do this democracy thing! Polls have just opened throughout the region, and all day people will be streaming into their polling places to cast their ballots. Feel free to send us tips, pictures or anecdotes to tips (at) dcist (dot) com, or tweet us at @DCist or @DCist_Martin or @BRFreed. For now, these are the things we’ll be looking for today:

>> In D.C., will voters finally choose to dump an incumbent? It’s been a long time since any sitting councilmember has been beat during a general election—over a decade, in fact—but this year is better than most for challengers. While Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) seems likely to win his bid for re-election, will Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large) be as lucky? Brown and challenger David Grosso have been running neck and neck in recent months, with Grosso spending over $82,000 in the final two weeks alone to promote his candidacy and criticize Brown’s record.

>> Councilmember Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) is also facing a challenge from GOP contender Ron Moten. Will the creative campaigner be able to convince Ward 7 voters that they should side with a Republican? The Washington Post’s editorial board certainly hopes so.

>> Maryland voters are being asked to vote in referendums on a whole host of issues, but the most important will be those on same-sex marriage, expanded gambling and the DREAM Act. If Marylanders choose to uphold the state’s same-sex marriage law—many polls suggest that they will—the Old Line State will become the first place in the union to have voted for marriage equality. On gambling, voters will get to decide whether to allow a luxury casino at the National Harbor, which could well reshape the local tourist industry. (The race drew over $80 million in advertising, both pro and con. Anyone with a TV probably noticed.) As for immigration, Maryland voters will have to chance to decide whether undocumented immigrants who have graduated from high school in the state can receive in-state tuition to public universities.

>> There’s not much going on in Virginia, so…

>> HA. Just kidding. We hear through the grapevine that it’s a battleground state. Will President Obama keep the Old Dominion’s 13 electoral votes to himself, or will Republican challenger Mitt Romney be able to pick them off? The polling is extremely tight on this one, and Virginia is one of the states that could define the whole election.

>> We’ll also be looking to see if the Libertarian Party in D.C. can attract the 7,500 votes it’ll need to become a major political party, and whether D.C. voters will vote in favor of three ethics-related changes to the Home Rule Charter.

>> Finally, how will the D.C. Board of Elections fare today? After having been criticized for long lines during a week of early voting, the city’s elections board also has to contend with the reputation of getting results out way after many of the states. We’ll be on hand to watch the votes get counted this evening, but the question remains: will we know who won the presidential contest before we know who’s going to win the At-Large race?