Today at the Ballot Box . . .

An unusually busy off-year culminates with some critical choices for voters nationwide today. Here are races and issues to watch beyond California:

MAJOR MAYORAL RACES Seattle Albuquerque Minneapolis St. Paul Houston Cincinnati Detroit Cleveland Buffalo New York Hartford Boston Pittsburgh Charlotte Atlanta Miami * GOVERNOR’S RACES include New Jersey and Virginia

THE BALLOT MEASURES

Riverboat gambling

* INDIANA: Riverboat gambling will be an option for 11 communities near Lake Michigan and the Ohio River.

* MISSOURI: Three cities and three counties will vote on riverboat gambling on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Term Limits

* MAINE: Voters may limit terms for state lawmakers and four executive offices.

* NEW YORK: New York City voters may limit terms for mayor, city council and other posts; county offices in upstate Monroe County.

Prisons and crime

* TEXAS: $1 billion bond issue for prisons.

* WASHINGTON: Voters may order life sentences without parole for most three-time felons.

Public Finance

* TEXAS: Question whether voters should be polled before new state income taxes can be created.

* WASHINGTON: Proposal to limit tax growth, cancel part of state budget.

Nuclear waste

* MAINE: Decide on shipping low-level radioactive waste to Texas.

CITY AND LOCAL PROPOSITIONS

Gay Rights

* AROUND THE NATION: Voters in Cincinnati and Lewiston, Me., decide whether to repeal gay rights ordinances; Portsmouth, N.H., has a non-binding referendum on gay rights.

Secession

* STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.: Staten Islanders decide whether to keep pushing for independence from New York City and make their suburb a city.

Zoning

* HOUSTON: Voters in the only U.S. city without such regulations decide whether to approve a controversial zoning ordinance passed last summer by the Houston City Council.