California's certified election results show the state logged a record election in terms of the number of local measures and amounts approved, according to a
Voters approved 205 school bond measures, authorizing $45 billion of funding for elementary, high school and community college school construction, according to the report from Michael Coleman, creator of CaliforniaCityFinance.com, which tracks local tax and bond measures. Cities and counties received approval for renewed and increased sales taxes and lodging occupancy taxes.
Among the larger local measures was $9 billion approved for the Los Angeles Unified School District and $3.5 billion for the San Diego Community College District. San Jose Unified School District also secured approval for $1.15 billion in facility upgrades.
The majority of California voters vote by mail, so bond and tax measures are often not certified as approved for more than a month after election night.
Speeding up the certification process may be on the menu for this year's legislative session, but the state's citizen's initiative process — despite voter guides that sometimes stretch to 50 pages — is likely to stay, according to a
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has said the state's slow certification process ensures the final results are accurate, but told reporters during a
Last year, Proposition One, a $6.4 billion mental health bond measure didn't secure victory until nearly a month after the March 5th election.
That measure didn't create a funding stream, but rather diverted an existing so-called millionaires tax to create more slots for people seeking mental health or substance abuse treatment and to pay for supportive housing for mentally ill homeless people.
California's Proposition Five, which would have lowered the threshold on housing bonds from a two-thirds to a simple majority failed in a 56% to 44% vote.
Though most voters in pre-election polling said there are too many propositions on the California ballot — "and that understanding what happens if they pass can be challenging" — most state residents believe ballot initiatives bring up important policy issues, including education, climate and health care, Baldassare said.
The former complaint may explain why many "reliably blue voters said 'no' to seemingly liberal ballot measures, such as increasing housing, raising minimum wages, and removing involuntary servitude from the state constitution," Baldassare said.
While California voters approved two $10 billion bond measures, one for K-14 education, and another for climate programs, they said "no" to lowering the threshold from two-thirds to 55% to pass local bonds and taxes for affordable housing and public infrastructure.
The amendment would have revised Proposition 13, but according to PPIC's recent polling the supermajority requirement enshrined in Proposition 13 remains popular.
In November's election, Proposition 36, the anti-crime measure, and Proposition 35, which made a tax on managed care health insurance plans permanent, received the highest vote totals, with both surpassing 67 percent.
"Californians' ideas for improving direct democracy focus on more information to make policy choices. Half of residents say the state's voter information guide is very useful," he said. "Voters favor adding town halls, televised debates, and an independent citizen's initiative commission into their mix of trusted sources."
Baldassare's research indicates the same trend is likely nationally, as state ballot measures were prevalent and made impacts in California and 40 other states. He added, state direct democracy may be on the rise in a changing federal policy landscape.
"Voters can use initiatives to express economic frustrations and pessimism, while legislators turn to constitutional amendments and new laws to protect their states' policies," he said. "California and about half of other states have initiatives and referendums, and most legislatures can ask voters to make policy changes."
He added that voters' request for more and better information on these ballot measures should be a priority for the 2026 election given the focus by election officials and civic groups on election improvements.
