VOUCHERS FAIL; MEDICINAL POT WINS

Voters in 42 states spoke on a slew of social issues, and the messages they
sent were:

Vouchers, no.

Medicinal marijuana, yes.

Gay rights, no.

Measures to establish voucher programs in California and Michigan were
defeated, while campaigns to allow medicinal marijuana in Colorado and
Nevada passed.

A Nebraska initiative aimed at defining marriage as only heterosexual
unions between men and women passed, as did a similar measure in Nevada.

On the other side of the spectrum, a Maine measure that would outlaw bias
on the basis of sexual orientation remained too close to call early today.

Forty-two states voted on 204 statewide ballot measures Tuesday, according
to the Initiative and Referendum Institute in Washington, D.C. Seventy-one
of those were initiated by the people; 133 by legislatures.

Education was a key issue.

South Carolina approved a lottery with proceeds to go to education, and
Virginia voted to give local jurisdictions lottery money for education.

North Carolina approved a $3.1 billion bond issue to improve higher education.

Arizona, meanwhile, approved a measure that would end bilingual education
there.

Shaun Bowler, a political science professor at the University of
California-Riverside, said the failure of the two voucher programs will
lead to more moderate education provisions in the future.

"Next stop is charter schools," he said. "There will be lots of them on the
ballot."

Measures focused on sex, marriage and other hot-button social issues were
mixed, said Dane Waters of the Initiative and Referendum Institute.

"You can't just put voters in a box," he said. "You can't say they're all
conservative, all liberal. They like to pick and choose their issues. It's
a mixed bag across the board."

Measures in Colorado and Arizona aimed at limiting urban growth were rejected.

In Connecticut, voters decided to abolish the office of the county sheriff.

In Alabama, voters lifted a longtime ban on interracial marriage.

Maine defeated a measure to allow doctor-assisted suicide.

Alaska voters, meanwhile, were scheduled to vote on whether to legalize
marijuana, even as Colorado and Nevada passed medicinal marijuana measures.

California passed a bill that would require certain nonviolent drug
offenders to receive drug treatment instead of incarceration.

Medical use of marijuana is legal in Alaska, Washington state, Oregon,
Hawaii, California and Maine, according to Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana
Policy Project.

In Virginia, voters approved a plan to change the constitution to guarantee
citizens the right to fish, hunt and harvest game.

Oregon offered the most ballot initiatives -- 26. Arizona and Alabama
followed with 14 measures each. Texas, Vermont and Tennessee are among the
states that have none, according to Waters.

The longtime social issues of guns and abortion were also represented.
Colorado and Oregon voters supported a measure requiring background checks
for those waiting to buy guns at gun shows. Colorado also rejected a
24-hour waiting period for abortions.