When I lived in the small village of Damariscotta Mills, Maine, I would vote on Election Day in the tiny Nobleboro Town Office just up Route 1. I’d bring my young kids with me, the three of us would crowd our combined six arms and legs into a booth, and I would give them a mini-lecture about how the right to vote was something they should never take for granted – that sometimes people in other countries were killed for trying to vote.

Voting has always felt like an almost sacred act to me. After 40 years as a journalist covering politics – with ample time and ample reason to become cynical – I still get goose bumps when I go to my polling place. This is my part – tangible, quantifiable – in democracy.

Our election coverage leading up to today, Election Day, reflects that understanding of the role each of us has to play in our democracy. Our job as citizens is to vote knowledgeably, armed with relevant facts. We don’t need stories about the latest insults candidates are lobbing at each other, nor do we need endless horse-race coverage of polls, which tells you precisely nothing about a candidate and their positions and how they propose to fix what’s wrong and support what’s right in the world.

In this newsletter, you’ll find our typical range of stories from the final week before the midterms. There’s an analysis of the value of TV ads in campaigns by Vanderbilt political scientist John Sides, who concludes that “TV ads didn’t change voters’ preferences for presidential candidates in presidential elections from 2000 to 2016.” In Senate races, though, “the effect of advertising on election outcomes is twice as large as in presidential races.” Maybe that’s why a total of $254,668,614 has been spent on the U.S. Senate race in Georgia?

Senate races are among the highest-profile contests in this election, which is why we asked Drake University political scientist Rachel Paine Caufield to describe what a senator actually does. Caufield writes that “Senators take part in deliberations and voting within the Senate, with the goal of advancing the issues and positions that matter to their state.” But they have another role, too: “They also serve to advance the interests of the country.” That should help readers who want to evaluate candidates’ fitness for the job.

And finally, if you haven’t voted yet, there’s a story you should read – because these days, you need to know facts not only about candidates, but also about your own right to vote, so you can defend it. Here’s our guide for what to do if someone tries to stop you from voting, in English and in Spanish.