issues on ballots

Issues that were on ballots Tuesday around the nation (some results were not reported in time for this edition):

Marijuana legalization

Voters in Oregon and the District of Columbia approved ballot measures Tuesday allowing the use of marijuana by adults, elating legalization activists who hope to extend their winning streak across the country.

Oregon will join the company of Colorado and Washington state, where voters approved the recreational use of pot two years ago. And the District of Columbia is on the same path unless Congress, which has review power, blocks the move.

In Florida, a measure that would have allowed marijuana use for medical reasons fell short of the 60 percent approval to pass; near-complete returns showed it getting about 57 percent of the votes. Twenty-three other states allow medical marijuana. Voters in Alaska also were weighing in on a ballot measure that would allow recreational use of pot by adults.

MINIMUM WAGE

Voters in Arkansas and Nebraska approved increases in their states’ minimum wages. In Arkansas, it will rise from $6.25 an hour to $8.50 by 2017, in Nebraska from $7.25 to $9. Two other states — Alaska and South Dakota — also were voting on minimum wage increases.

Fracking ban

Voters in the oil-rich North Texas city of Denton voted Tuesday to ban further permitting of hydraulic fracturing, upsetting a campaign backed by big oil and gas companies opposing the measure.

The vote made Denton, which sits atop a large natural-gas reserve, the first city in Texas to pass such a ban. It sets up a legal showdown between the city and industry groups that have warned the ban could be followed by lawsuits and a severe hit to Denton’s economy.

ABORTION

In Colorado, voters rejected a proposal to add “unborn human beings” to the state’s criminal code, a measure that some feared could ban abortion.

The proposal asked voters about adding unborn children to criminal code as a way to strengthen protections for pregnant women.

Source: Associated Press