(AP) -
While the general election might not break
partisan gridlock in Congress, it could result in historic changes for
U.S. social policy: Several states had a chance to be the first to
approve same-sex marriage by popular vote and to legalize recreational
use of marijuana.
Dating back to 1998,
same-sex marriage has been rejected in all 32 states that have held
popular votes on the issue. Gay-rights advocates believed they had a
chance to break that streak as Maine, Maryland and Washington voted on
ballot measures to legalize same-sex marriage, and Minnesota voted on
whether to place a ban on gay marriage in the state constitution.
Marijuana legalization was
on the ballot in Washington, Oregon and Colorado; each measure would
allow adults to possess small amounts of pot under a regimen of state
regulation and taxation. The Oregon proposal had lagged, but the
Washington and Colorado measures were believed to have a decent chance
of passage.
If approved, the measures would set up a direct challenge to federal drug law.
In Arkansas and
Massachusetts, voters were deciding whether to allow marijuana use for
medical reasons, as 17 states have done previously. Arkansas would be
the first Southern state in that group.
In California, voters were
deciding whether to repeal the state's death penalty. If the measure
prevailed, the more than 720 inmates on death row there would have their
sentences converted to life in prison.
While 17 states have ended
capital punishment, most did so through legislative action. Only in
Oregon, in 1964, did voters choose to repeal the death penalty; they
later reversed themselves to reinstate it.
In all, there were 176
measures on the ballots Tuesday in 38 states, according to the
Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern
California.
All four elections on
same-sex marriage were expected to be close. In Maine, the latest poll
showed gay-marriage supporters with a 13 percentage point lead, down
from a 21 point lead in September.
Maine's referendum marked
the first time that gay-marriage supporters put the issue to a popular
vote. They collected enough signatures over the summer to schedule the
vote, hoping to reverse the outcome of a 2009 referendum that quashed a
gay-marriage law enacted by the Legislature.
In both Maryland and
Washington, gay-marriage laws were approved by lawmakers and signed by
the governors earlier this year, but opponents gathered enough
signatures to challenge the laws.
In Minnesota, the question
was whether the state would join 30 others in placing a ban on gay
marriage in its constitution. Even if the ban is defeated, same-sex
marriage would remain illegal in Minnesota under statute.
Gay marriage is legal in
six states and the District of Columbia - in each case the result of
legislation or court orders, not by a vote of the people.
Other notable ballot measures:
- Massachusetts could join
Oregon and Washington in allowing terminally ill patients to obtain
lethal doses of medication if doctors say they have six months or less
to live.
- Another contentious
measure in California would require most genetically engineered
processed foods sold in supermarkets and other outlets to be labeled as
such.
- California labor unions
were the target of a measure that would prohibit them from collecting
money for state political activities from members through paycheck
deductions.
- In Michigan, labor unions
succeeded in getting a vote on a first-of-its-kind ballot initiative
that would put collective bargaining rights in the state constitution.
- Maryland voters were
deciding whether to uphold a new state law allowing some illegal
immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public colleges.
- A measure in Montana
would require people who receive certain state services to provide proof
of U.S. citizenship or legal residency.
- Oklahoma voters voted on whether to abolish affirmative action programs in state government and education.
- Minnesotans were deciding on an amendment that would require showing a photo ID in order to vote.
