Campaign funding limits rejected in California, Oregon News
Campaign funding limits rejected in California, Oregon

[JURIST] Ballot measures limiting political campaign contributions and spending failed in two states Tuesday, while measures temporarily barring some former public officials from lobbying succeeded in two other states. Voters in California [JURIST news archive] soundly rejected [Stop Prop 89 advocacy website] Proposition 89 [PDF text], which would have provided public campaign funding [Yes on 89 advocacy website] for qualified candidates and imposed a 0.2 percent income tax on corporations and financial institutions to pay for the system. With votes from all but 10 of the state's 25,090 precincts counted Wednesday afternoon, the California secretary of state's office reported these unofficial results [returns]:

NO: 4,810,377 (74.5 percent)
YES: 1,652,771 (25.5 percent)

The Los Angeles Times has local coverage.

In Oregon [JURIST news archive], voters defeated Measure 46 [materials], which would have amended the state constitution to permit limits on political contributions and spending, even as they approved Measure 47 [materials], an intiative that would have implemented the limits had the constitutional amendment passed. The Oregon secretary of state's office posted these unofficial results [returns] Wednesday afternoon:

Measure 46
NO: 654,117 (59.8 percent)
YES: 439,380 (40.2 percent)

Measure 47
YES: 591,320 (53.3 percent)
NO: 518,151 (46.70 percent)

From Portland, the Oregonian has local coverage.

Successful initiatives in Colorado [Amendment 41 text; Denver Post unofficial returns] and Montana [Initiative 153 text; unofficial returns] will prohibit certain government officials from working as lobbyists for two years after leaving office.