On a night when Donald Trumps presidential victory garnered attention nationwide, a slew of ballots and initiatives across multiple states were passed.
Ballots related to recreational and medicinal marijuana, minimum wage and health care all passed across the country.
Look at the hot-topic issues. Theyre representative of policies that have a lot of national pressure behind them, and policies that have had a lot of success in the past, Ballotpedia project director Josh Altic told Politico. These initiatives are mostly a response to gridlock or actual opposition in state legislatures.
Weve broken down the ballots that were passed below by topic.
Marijuana
Ballots related to recreational and medicinal marijuana, minimum wage and health care all passed across the country.
Look at the hot-topic issues. Theyre representative of policies that have a lot of national pressure behind them, and policies that have had a lot of success in the past, Ballotpedia project director Josh Altic told Politico. These initiatives are mostly a response to gridlock or actual opposition in state legislatures.
Weve broken down the ballots that were passed below by topic.
Marijuana
- Arizona voted against legalizing recreational marijuana, according to AZ Central. The rejection of proposition 205 keeps medical marijuana as prescription only in the state.
- Arkansas voters passed Issue 6 to legalize medical marijuana. It narrowly passed four years after a 2012 measure failed, according to KFSM 5.
- California approved a ballot to legalize recreational marijuana. The approval of the ballot comes six years after those of the Golden State rejected a similar measure, the Los Angeles Times reported.
- Florida also approved medical marijuana on election night. Early returns said more than 60 percent of the state approved the measure, one similar to a ballot that went to bat in 2014, according to Politico.
- Maine's decision on recreational marijuana went late into the night, but The New York Times reported this morning that the measure had been approved.
- Massachusetts also legalized recreational marijuana use, according to The Hill. This will allow adults who are 21 years old or older to use the drug without penalty.
- By early Wednesday morning, Montana's measure to expand medical marijuana accessibility remained in the lead, The New York Times reported. It eventually passed.
- Marijuana legalization also passed in Nevada, The Hill reported. Investors who supported the measure said they could "see business opportunities in the legal marijuana market," according to The Hill.
- North Dakota also passed a measure to expand access to medical marijuana, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Arizona passed a new initiative that will raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour by the year 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- Colorado approved a minimum wage hike, increasing wages to $12 per hour by the year 2012, 9 News reported.
- Maine also passed minimum wage increases in the early hours of Wednesday morning, ABC News reported.
- Like many other states Tuesday night, Washington passed an initiative to increase the statewide minimum wage to $13.50 per hour, KIRO-7 reported. The measure also allows workers to use paid sick leave when a family member is sick, or who dont go to work over domestic violence issues, according to KIRO-7.
- Colorado voters showed overwhelming support to legalize assisted suicide, while also rejecting a single-payer health care system, according to Fox News.
- California passed Propositition 63 on Tuesday night, which will ban "possession of large-capacity magazines, mandates background checks and permits for ammunition purchases, requires individuals and businesses to report lost or stolen firearms, and makes all firearm thefts felonies, regardless of the value of the weapon," according to The Huffington Post.
- California passed a new tobacco and income tax that will raise the price of a pack of cigarettes $2, accoridng to KCRA-3.
- Colorado voters fended off a measure that would have raised taxes on cigarettes and tobacco, according to The Denver Post. The measure aimed to cut down on youth smoking and to help funnel money to health care.
- Missouri voted not to increase a cigarette tax, according to KY3 News. The state's tax is already one of the lowest in the nation, but it will not see an increase moving forward.
- North Dakota voters also rejected a tobacco tax hike, according to WDAY-6. The bill would have raised taxes to $2.20 per pack had it passed.
