SACRAMENTO, California: Polls closed at 8 p.m. PST in California on June 5, 2012, but that was just the beginning of what turned out to be an interesting primary election night.

Two statewide measures appeared on the ballot in the Golden State – Propositions 28 and 29. Both met different fates at the hands of state voters.

Proposition 28 would reduce the total number of years a politician can serve in the California State Legislature from 14 years to 12 years. It would also permit a legislator to serve these 12 years in either the California State Senate or the California State Assembly.

Proposition 29 would increase the tax on cigarettes in the state by $1.00 per pack. California’s current cigarette tax is 87 cents per pack. The additional tax revenue will be used to fund cancer research, smoking reduction programs, and tobacco law enforcement.

While Proposition 28 was approved with 61.4% of the vote with all precincts reporting, Proposition 29 remained too close to call five hours after polls closed. With 66% of precincts reporting numbers, the measure showed 50.3% of voters had voted “no”.

With all precincts reporting, however, Prop. 29 results show an initial defeat with 50.8% of voters casting “no” votes. Results are unofficial numbers from the California Secretary of State‘s website.

All precincts have reported numbers. Unofficial results from the California Secretary of State’s website are below.

Proposition 28

See also: California Proposition 28, Change in Term Limits (June 2012)

Proposition 28
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		2,319,918	61.4%
No		1,456,749	38.6%

21,993 of 21,993 precincts reporting

Proposition 29

See also: California Proposition 29, Tobacco Tax for Cancer Research Act (June 2012)

Proposition 29
Result		Votes	Percentage
No		1,958,047	50.8%
Yes		1,894,871	49.2%

21,993 of 21,993 precincts reporting

Local measures

In addition to tracking the two statewide measures on the primary ballot on June 5, Ballotpedia also tracked two hot-button local issues that were found on those cities’ ballots.

• Proposition B, on the city of San Diego’s ballot would give new city workers a 401(k) with a city match instead of a guaranteed pension. The guaranteed pension for newly-hired public-safety workers would max out at 80% of the individual’s salary. Currently, the cap is at 90%.

• Measure B in San Jose would give current city workers “the option of switching to a lower pension or staying in the current plan and paying off pension debt with annual contribution increases of 4 percent of pay, capped at 16 percent or half the debt cost.”

Both measures were approved by voters with a majority of precincts reporting.

All precincts have reported numbers. Results are unofficial according to county websites.

San Diego Proposition B

See also: San Diego Pension Reform Initiative, Proposition B (June 2012)

Proposition B
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		110,738	66.19%
No		56,559	33.81%

749 of 749 precincts reporting

San Jose Measure B

See also: San Jose Pension Reform, Measure B (June 2012)

Measure B
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		63,023	69.58%
No		27,554	30.42%

415 of 415 precincts reporting