All the attention right now is on the monumental upcoming presidential race, but when the moment of truth finally comes and voters are presented with the ballots they’ve been waiting for, they’ll be looking at dozens of names to choose from in a whole lot of races.

State and national congressional seats, influential county positions like the treasurer and sheriff’s offices, judicial seats, state and local school board positions and spots on state university boards are all to determined on November 4.

Michigan voters will even have to make decisions on proposals for legalization of medical marijuana use and embryonic stem cell research.

Sample ballots are available at www.michigan.gov/vote. By entering a name, date of birth and zip code, voters can see what their ballot will look like in their individual precinct.

The long list of choices could seem daunting. Ballots for  West Bloomfield voters, for example, will include over 80 names. Ballots in Dearborn — over 100.

But many of the names are part of irrelevant, unopposed races.

One section of Wayne County ballots asks voters to choose 18 names out of 18 incumbent 3rd Circuit Court judges.

Many state and national congressional races are also already in the bag, with incumbents like US Reps. John Conyers and John Dingell of Detroit and Dearborn too strong to be seriously challenged by underfunded, little-known opponents.

Others like US. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and state House candidate Rashida Tlaib of Detroit have already fought their major battles in the August primaries, and are expected to cruise to victory in solid Democratic districts.

But others still do face tough competition, like Republican US Rep. Joe Knollenberg, of Bloomfield, whose district seems to be undergoing a demographic shift, allowing well-funded Democratic challenger Gary Peters, a former state senator, to pose a major threat.

In Dearborn, two incumbent school board members and a 19th District Court are trying to hold onto their seats in tough contests.

Other races include only newcomers, with no incumbent running, like the contest for the Wayne County Commissioner seat in the 9th district, which represents Dearborn Heights, Garden City and Redford, left open by current commissioner Phil Cavanagh, who ran an unsuccessful bid for County Treasurer in the primary election. Democratic candidate Diane Webb, who won her primary convincingly in August with heavy Arab American support in Dearborn Heights, faces Republican Mark Slater in that race.

Dearborn Heights voters are also looking at a number of choices on ballot proposals for millage measures, while the marijuana and stem cell proposals are statewide.

Supporters of Proposal 1, on marijuana, argue that it’s use by individuals suffering from debilitating medical conditions opens a new avenue for treatment and relief, while the proposed law sets conditions on marijuana use by qualified patients and contains safeguards to prevent abuse.

Detractors argue that the law would make it more difficult for law enforcement to control the drug, which they view as harmful.

Supporters of Proposal 2, on stem cell research, argue that the research has the best potential to treat and cure certain disease which currently have no cure, and that it would allow, with donors’ consent, the use of leftover embryos from fertility clinics that would otherwise be thrown away.

Detractors  argue that the use recent use of adult stem cells and umbilical cord cells have shown results without destroying human embryos, and that the proposal would prohibit the state or local governments from enacting new laws to regulate experimentation on on live human embryos in the future.

Monday, Oct. 6 is the final day citizens can send in forms to register to vote.

For information and help deciding on who an what to vote for, visit the League of Women Voters website, www.vote411.org.

The Arab American Political Action Committee decided on a partial list of endorsements, but will not release them until October 9, when it makes final decisions on the presidential and other elections.

On October 8, the group is set to hold a forum on the contentious 19th District Court race between Judge Mark Somers and challenger Candyce Abbatt. The two are scheduled to attend and debate at 7 p.m. at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center, 6220 Miller Rd in Dearborn.