In California, voters rejected a measure that would have outlawed using involuntary servitude as a punishment against prisoners.
The Associated Press projected that Proposition 6 would fail at 9:11 p.m. ET Sunday. With 72% of the estimated vote counted, 53.8% of voters chose “no” compared to 46.2% who voted “yes.” It marks the latest liberal ballot measure defeat in California this year.
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The ballot measure would have removed the provision in the state constitution that “allows jails and prisons to impose involuntary servitude to punish crime,” while still banning involuntary servitude at large. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which banned slavery, includes a similar provision allowing for it as punishment for a crime.
If Proposition 6 had passed, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would not have been allowed to punish inmates for refusing work assignments. State prisons use inmates for a variety of jobs, including fighting wildfires and making license plates, for pay of less than $1 an hour. Passing the measure would have likely increased costs for state prisons.
Voters rejected the measure, allowing for the practice to continue. A similar ballot measure passed in neighboring Nevada.
The California measure had been recommended by the state’s reparations committee, which issued its findings and policy prescriptions last year. Most of the proposals from the committee, which was established in 2020, have failed to be enacted into law.
Proposition 6 was one of several liberal propositions which failed to pass in California this year. A measure to expand local rent control, Proposition 33, failed and a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage to $18 an hour, Proposition 32, is currently failing 51%-49%, with 71% of the vote counted.
Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime ballot measure that increases penalties for retail theft and drug crimes, easily passed on Tuesday. With 71% of the estimated votes reported, “yes” leads “no” 69%-31%.
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Golden State voters also pushed back on left-liberal elected officials in several major cities.
In Los Angeles, Soros-funded District Attorney George Gascon was soundly defeated in his reelection bid, while voters successfully recalled progressive Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. Crime in both cities had been a key focus on their ousters, and it also played a key role in San Francisco Mayor London Breed losing her reelection bid.