[JURIST] California voters Tuesday rejected a hotly-contested initiative [JURIST report] that would have prevented lawmakers from drawing political voting districts [JURIST report; proposition summary and text, PDF]. The initiative was allowed on the ballot after an appeal to the California Supreme Court [JURIST report]; a lower court had said the measure could not be part of the November election [JURIST report] because petitions circulated to collect the necessary signatures for the initiative to appear on the ballot did not contain identical wording. California voters also turned down several other propositions, including proposals to require doctors to notify parents [proposition summary] that a teenage girl wanted an abortion and one that would have capped state spending [proposition summary] to allow Gov. Schwarzenegger increased power to make budget cuts.

Also on Tuesday, Maine voted to keep [ballot question text] a state law [bill summary; JURIST report] that protects homosexuals from discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and education. Voters had previously rejected these anti-discrimination laws in 1998 and 2000. Elsewhere, Texas voters approved [JURIST report] a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages [Proposition 2 text], becoming the 19th state to agree to such a ban. In Ohio, voters rejected four proposed election law changes [League of Women Voters summary], one of which would have enabled a neutral commission to map political districts instead of the Legislature. Ohio also rejected transferring election oversight from the elected secretary of state to a bipartisan commission.

Finally, in a contentious local ballot, voters in San Francisco Tuesday approved a measure [AP report; Proposition H SF Department of Elections backgrounder] prohibiting the manufacture and sale of all firearms and ammunition in city limits, and making it illegal for city residents to keep handguns in their home or places of work. San Francisco becomes the third US city after Washington and Chicago to pass such a broad gun ban. Opponents of the ban [No campaign website; additional No website] say a court challenge may follow. USA Today has more. Stateline.org provides a list of all statewide measures voted on during Tuesday's elections.