Today is Election Day across Alaska. Voters will begin to decide the future of the state Legislature, pick sides in primary battles for the U.S. House and Senate seat and,

, choose whether to relocate.

For help finding your local polling place, check with the state Elections Division

or search by your home address

. Polls close at 8 p.m. Return to KTUU.com tonight for the results, updated throughout the evening.

All told, candidates for 10 state Senate seats and all 40 state House seats are on today's primary ballot. The general election -- including the vote for president -- follows on Nov. 8.

The Legislature

The state political parties are getting involved in several legislative races that will appear in today's primary.

The Alaska GOP is targeting a Republican House member it feels is a Democrat at heart, and the state Democratic party is helping finance the challengers of two rural House Democrats that it considers too cozy with the Republican-led majority.

It's unusual for political parties to meddle in primaries.

But this has been an unusual year, marked by drawn-out legislative sessions that did little to close Alaska's gaping budget deficit and lawmakers struggling to overcome philosophical differences to find common ground on a path forward.

Whether the elections will have an impact on the gridlock remains unclear.

U.S. Senate

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is expected to sail through today's Republican primary, while Democrats will choose between two candidates to face her in November.

A number of independents vying to make the general election ballot are expected to be waiting in the wings, the most prominent among them being Margaret Stock. Independents don't have to go through primaries.

After a stunning loss to tea party upstart Joe Miller in the 2010 primary, Murkowski mounted a successful general election write-in campaign to keep her job.

This time, she's taking nothing for granted, traveling the state, running ads and raising money.

The Democrats seeking to challenge Murkowski are University of Alaska Anchorage professor and small-newspaper owner Edgar Blatchford and former state legislator Ray Metcalfe. Libertarian Cean Stevens is also running.

U.S. House

At age 83, Don Young shows no signs of slowing down or any cooling of his fiery demeanor.

Young, the longest serving Republican ever in the U.S. House, wants a 23rd term, while Democrat Steve Lindbeck, a retired newspaper editor and media executive, wants his first term.

Neither faces a major challenge in the primary today.

Young's Republican primary challengers are little-known candidates Stephen Wright, Gerald Heikes and Jesse "Messy" Tingley.

The other Democrats running are William "Bill" Hibler and Lynette "Moreno" Hinz.

The Libertarian candidates are Jim McDermott and Jon Watts.