( CNN ) -- While the presidential candidates spar in debates and jump on gaffes , two possibly historic votes on November 6 will cut to the most primal issues : nothing less than death and love . In California , voters will decide whether to keep the death penalty on the books in America 's most populous state . Meanwhile , in my own state of Minnesota , there is a good chance that a proposed constitutional amendment to bar same-sex marriage will be defeated . Each is significant because it could represent a crucial shift in momentum and a turning point â€ ” away from the use of the death penalty , and toward a broader societal acceptance of gay men and women . The death penalty law in California is a mess . It is expensive in a time of fiscal crisis , and simply does n't work . California has by far the largest death row in the nation , with more than 700 residents ( Florida is next with about 400 ) , yet it has only executed 13 people since 1976 . If Californians sensibly reject continuing this failed death penalty approach , it will join five other states that have also recently abolished capital punishment : Connecticut , Illinois , New Jersey , New Mexico and New York . California 's action would have two principle effects . First , it could lead to a reconsideration of the soundness of the death penalty in other states where it is seldom used , including Delaware , Maryland , Washington , Oregon , Colorado and Pennsylvania . California is a trendsetter and it will be meaningful when the state with the largest death row gives up the cost and moral burden of capital punishment . Second , it would be a large step toward a new challenge to the death penalty under the Eighth Amendment . Since the 1980s , the Supreme Court has looked to trends in the states to evaluate where national standards are regarding what punishments are `` cruel and unusual . '' In fact , such an analysis led to a constitutional ban on the death penalty in cases where the defendant committed the crime as a juvenile or suffered a mental defect . Moving California to the abolition side would commit a large fraction of the American population to leaning away from the death penalty . It may well be that the best way to get rid of the death penalty in Texas is to abolish it in California . While California considers the state 's ability to kill its citizens , Minnesota will decide an issue related to love . While Minnesota is not a population giant , the symbolic value of the upcoming referendum on same-sex marriage in that state has huge symbolic importance . The proposed amendment would insert into the Minnesota Constitution a definition of marriage as between one man and one woman ( the state 's statutes already contain this definition ) . Some 30 states ( most recently North Carolina ) have already amended their constitutions to include similar language . Three other states â€ ” Maine , Maryland and Washington â€ ” are voting on whether to allow same-sex marriage ( essentially the opposite question from the one posed in Minnesota ) . The Minnesota vote is perhaps the most significant , though , because it could break the unbeaten streak of those who have pushed bans on same-sex marriage into state constitutions . It would reflect an overextension of that effort and a crucial shift going the other way . Right now , polling on the Minnesota marriage amendment is roughly even , while California polls show death penalty abolitionists behind . The remaining weeks will be crucial in each contest . History often moves when we are n't watching , and political epochs rarely align with elections . Rather , Americans sometimes change their consensus over time , and nearly always there was a noticeable swing in momentum at a time we can name . For example , with the civil rights movement , it was not a presidential election that marked a turning point , but something as simple as a brave woman on a bus . Should the people of California and Minnesota choose less death and more love , respectively , this , too , could be one of those moments . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mark Osler .
Voters in California will decide on death penalty and those in Minnesota on gay marriage . Mark Osler : Each is significant because it could represent a turning point in history . Osler : Let 's see if Californians and Minnesotans choose less death and more love .