In 2012, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, which has led to the early release of more than 1,900 three-strikers serving life in prison. And there has not been an increase in crime. Proposition 47 on this week’s ballot converts low-level drug and property offenses — like shoplifting, writing bad checks or simple drug possession — from felonies to misdemeanors. It is expected to reduce the sentences of as many as 10,000 inmates.

On Tuesday, the measure, which enjoyed broad bipartisan support, passed with more than 58 percent of the vote. Many politicians are still afraid of looking soft on crime, but California’s experience shows that voters can lead the way.

ABORTION RIGHTS The overwhelming rejection of “personhood” measures in Colorado and North Dakota dealt another well-deserved blow to the effort by some opponents of reproductive rights to ban all abortions (and some common forms of contraception) by passing laws giving fertilized eggs legal rights and protections that apply to individuals.

The defeat in Colorado was not unexpected. Voters there handily quashed earlier “personhood” initiatives in 2008 and 2010, and they were not deceived by this round’s revised wording. But few expected a similar proposal to be rejected by 64 percent of voters in North Dakota, a conservative state that — like Mississippi, which roundly defeated a “personhood” initiative three years ago — has just one abortion provider remaining.

Unfortunately, opponents of abortion rights scored a victory in Tennessee, where nearly 53 percent of voters approved a state constitutional amendment that gives the Republican-led State Legislature leeway to curtail access to safe and legal abortion care. While nothing will change immediately, there will likely be a rush to enact new abortion restrictions beyond those already in place in the months ahead. But politicians in Tennessee would be wrong to read Tuesday’s relatively close vote as a mandate to obliterate a woman’s fundamental right.

GUN CONTROL In the aftermath of the school massacre in 2012 in Newtown, Conn., Congress — caving to the National Rifle Association — did nothing to protect the public from gun violence. In Washington State, a campaign started by outraged church and community leaders fared much better. Initiative 594, which will require criminal and mental-health checks on gun buyers, drew an impressive 60 percent voter support on Tuesday.

Just as important, the gun lobby’s measure — Initiative 591, which was on the same ballot — would have blocked background checks and was defeated by 55 percent of the vote. Other campaigns are underway at the statehouse level, supported by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s well-financed gun-safety movement and others. Opponents decried Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign as outside interference but got nowhere this time.