by John Gramlich and Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writers

California voters put a stop to same-sex weddings, dashing gay rights advocates’ hopes that the most populous state — traditionally a bellwether for liberal social change — would lead the nation toward wider acceptance of single-sex marriages.

Arizona and Florida also voted Nov. 4 to ban gay marriage, bringing to 30 the number of states with prohibitions in their constitutions to block same-sex unions. But California’s vote packs bigger repercussions, both for its impact on same-sex couples and on the gay rights movement.

The vote marks the first time marriage rights have been granted and then rescinded, and it calls into question more than 18,000 California marriage licenses — many to out-of-state gay couples — that were issued in the six months since a state high court legalized gay weddings. California Attorney General Jerry Brown has said approval of the ban would not invalidate the licenses, but gay rights activists expect his opinion to be challenged in court.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, the ban passed 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent. The issue quickly moved into the courts. Advocates for gay marriage filed three separate lawsuits with the California Supreme Court on Wednesday (Nov. 5), claiming the ballot process cannot be used to make such a sweeping revision to the state constitution…

The gay marriage bans were among the most closely watched of the 153 measures on 36 states’ ballots this year, a list that included scores of politically explosive social issues.

Voters in Colorado and South Dakota rejected sweeping bans on abortion that could have tested Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that provided women seeking abortions with legal protections. A third abortion measure — requiring doctors to notify parents of minors before performing the procedure — failed in California. Washington became only the second state after Oregon to allow doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Michigan lifted a 30-year ban on stem-cell research. Nebraska agreed to ban affirmative action.

But social issues were not only the only measures attracting national attention. Tax and budget proposals also took on greater importance, particularly as dozens of states struggle to balance their budgets amid the faltering U.S. economy.

Major revenue-reducing initiatives fared poorly. Massachusetts rejected a plan to eliminate the state’s income tax, a proposal that could have cut the state’s budget by more than 40%. North Dakotans declined to cut the state’s personal income tax in half and reduce the corporate income tax by 15%, moves that would have slashed the state’s budget by about 17%. In Oregon, a proposal to allow residents to deduct federal taxes from their state income tax returns failed; the measure would have trimmed the state’s budget by about $1 billion. However, Coloradans refused to create a savings account for public schools that would have used money otherwise returned to residents as rebates under the state’s landmark Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Voters in Massachusetts and Michigan relaxed penalties for the possession and use of marijuana. Massachusetts became the first state to decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana via ballot initiative, while Michigan became the 13th state — and first in the Great Lakes or Midwest — to sign off on use of the drug for medical purposes.

“This is a really momentous time in marijuana policy reform across the country,” said Dan Bernath, a spokesman with the Marijuana Policy Project, which supported the two proposals. “I think that it’s clear now that the voters are not listening to the fear-mongering and the fiery rhetoric that opponents of sensible marijuana policy reform have been spouting for the past decade or more.”

Washington voters easily approved – by a 58.7%t to 41.3% margin – a “death with dignity” law modeled on Oregon’s, which took effect in 1997. More than 340 patients have taken lethal prescriptions in the decade since Oregon’s law was enacted.

Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political science professor who follows state ballot initiatives, said doctor-assisted suicide is “something that could be coming down the pike in other states” after Washington’s approval.

In other states, voters were asked to change election protocols. South Dakota voters rejected a proposal to repeal legislative term limits. Colorado rejected a plan to lower age limits for those serving in the General Assembly. Perhaps most significantly, Californians were considering giving redistricting authority to an independent commission instead of the state Legislature, a proposal that has failed five times before in the Golden State. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, the proposal was ahead by the narrowest of margins, 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent.

In another closely watched measure, California became the latest state to approve a measure requiring more humane conditions for farm animals. The Golden State’s proposal requires that pregnant pigs, calves and egg-laying hens have enough room to turn around and “fully extend their limbs” when they are confined. But the proposal would not go into effect until 2015. Similar proposals won approval in Florida in 2002 and Arizona in 2006.

Go to stateline.org for a continously updated overview of how voters decided major ballot measures.