Rosalie Murphy

The Desert Sun

Voters in California this election season had a lot to decide.

For the second time in six years, citizens voted on whether the state should legalize marijuana. In 2010, the measure was defeated by nearly 700,000 votes. This year, polls have suggested the proposition will pass. In the votes that had been counted by early Wednesday morning, "yes" votes on Proposition 64 were leading, 56 percent to 44 percent.

READ MORE: California votes to legalize recreational marijuana

Californians were also asked whether more prisoners should be eligible for parole. Though law enforcement tends to oppose sentencing reform measures, voters tend to approve them. In 2012, a ballot proposition modified California's "three strikes" law, allowing for many convicts to be re-sentenced, and in 2014, voters passed Proposition 47, which reclassified some felonies as misdemeanors and reduced jail populations.

"Absolutely, it is a trend. You know, the pendulum has been swinging and swinging hard," Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said on Tuesday night. "Let's hope now that decision-makers at the prisons and the (parole) boards that they put together make wise decisions and release people that truly are rehabilitated and don't pose a danger to public safety."

Nearly 64 percent of voters supported Proposition 57, according to final vote totals from the California Secretary of State.

Proposition 58, which repealed parts of a 1998 measure that required students who were learning English to be taught only in English, passed with 72 percent of the vote.

"We know if we want our students to compete on a global level, they need to learn multiple languages," said Eric Antuna, coordinator of English learner programs for the Palm Springs Unified School District. "For English-only students, it gives them more options to learn a secondary language in dual immersion programs, and it offers much more flexibility for our English-learner students to learn in their primary language... the transition to English is much more successful for them because they have that primary language base."

Two different initiatives asked voters to repeal the death penalty or to expedite capital punishment. Though the state has not executed anyone since 1978, Riverside County sent eight people to death row in 2015 — the most of any county in the country. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have already banned the death penalty, according to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, an advocacy group.

About 46 percent of voters supported Proposition 62, which would have repealed the death penalty; nearly 51 percent of voters supported Proposition 66, which will reform some death penalty procedures and may expedite executions.

"This is going to clear away some of the obstacles that death penalty opponents have been using, and I think we're going to start having executions again in California," he said.

View all of the Coachella Valley's election results here.

Below: The California Secretary of State said 100 percent of state precincts had reported vote totals by 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Proposition 51: $9 billion in school bonds.

YES: 54 percent. Voters authorize the state to sell $7 billion in general obligation bonds for public school facilities and $2 billion for community college facilities.

NO: 46 percent. Voters do not not authorize the state to sell those bonds.

Proposition 52: Extend hospital fees for Medicare funds.

YES: 70 percent. A state-imposed charge on private hospitals, and the Medicare funding that comes with it, will be extended permanently. The revenue would be used to increase funding for Medi-Cal.

NO: 30 percent. The state will stop charging this fee in 2018 as scheduled, unless the Legislature moves to extend it.

Proposition 53: Statewide votes on certain revenue bonds.

YES: 49 percent. Voters will have to approve the state's issuing of revenue bonds totaling more than $2 billion for a single project.

NO: 51 percent. The state can continue issuing revenue bonds without voters' approval.

Proposition 54: Posting Legislature bills online.

YES: 64 percent. Recordings of Legislature meetings will have to be posted online, and Legislature bills will have to be posted online at least 72 hours before a vote.

NO: 36 percent. The Legislature's procedures will not change.

Proposition 55: Extension of the 2012 Prop 30 income tax.

YES: 62 percent. The 2012 income tax on Californians earning more than $250,000 per year will be extended to 2030.

NO: 38 percent. The tax will expire as scheduled in 2018.

Proposition 56: Increase in the cigarette tax.

YES: 63 percent. The state excise tax on cigarettes will rise from $0.87 to $2.87 per pack. A tax will also be applied to e-cigarettes.

NO: 37 percent. Excise taxes on cigarettes and e-cigarettes will not change.

Proposition 57: Parole consideration for non-violent felons.

YES: 64 percent. Some state prison inmates convicted of non-violent felonies can be considered for early release, depending on rehabilitative or educational work while in prison. Juveniles will be required to have hearings in juvenile court before their cases can be transferred to adult court.

NO: 36 percent. There will be no changes to the process for releasing inmates from state prison or trying juveniles in adult court.

READ MORE: Riverside County DA rails against Prop 57

Proposition 58: Bilingual education in public schools.

YES: 72 percent. Public schools will not be required to teach English learners in English-only programs and can instead choose bilingual or other programs.

NO: 28 percent. Students who are learning English in public schools will still have to be taught in English-only programs.

Proposition 59: Legislative advisory on campaign finance.

YES: 52 percent. Voters ask California's elected officials to seek increased campaign finance regulations, but do not require any specific actions by members of Congress or the Legislature.

NO: 48 percent. Voters do not ask those officials to pursue changes in the regulation of campaign spending or contributions.

Proposition 60: Condom use in pornography.

YES: 46 percent. Performers in adult films will have to wear condoms during filming, and producers will have to pay for vaccinations and medical examinations.

NO: 54 percent. Pornography producers remain subject to current state and local safety measures.

READ MORE: Condoms on set: Do voters care what porn stars think?

Proposition 61: Prescription drug price regulations.

YES: 46 percent. State agencies will be prohibited from paying more for any prescription drug than the lowest price the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays for that drug.

NO: 54 percent. State agencies can continue negotiating prices of prescription drugs without regard to the VA's prices.

Proposition 62: Repeal of the death penalty.

YES: 46 percent. Convicted criminals can no longer be sentenced to death, and offenders currently on death row will be re-sentenced to life without possibility of parole.

NO: 54 percent. Offenders convicted of first-degree murder can continue to be sentenced to death.

Proposition 63: Background checks for ammunition buyers.

YES: 63 percent. California buyers will need background checks to purchase ammunition, and high-capacity magazines will be banned. The state will create a new court process for taking guns from people convicted of certain crimes.

NO: 37 percent. Requirements for buying firearms and ammunition in California will not change.

Proposition 64: Legalization of recreational marijuana.

YES: 56 percent. Adults 21 and older can legally grow, possess and consume marijuana for recreation. The state will regulate non-medical marijuana businesses and tax their sales.

NO: 44 percent. Growing, possessing or consuming marijuana for non-medical purposes remains illegal.

READ MORE: What would legalized marijuana mean for California?

Proposition 65: Restrictions on funds generated from reusable bag sales.

YES: 45 percent. Grocery stores will have to charge customers for reusable carryout bags, and the state will have to spend those funds on environmental programs.

NO: 55 percent. The state can use whatever money it collects from reusable bags for any purpose.

Proposition 66: Expediting death penalty procedures.

YES: 51 percent. The death penalty process will be expedited, because the state will petitions from death row inmates, increase the number of attorneys available to take those cases and exempt prison officials from current regulations for developing execution methods.

NO: 49 percent. The state's death penalty procedures will not change.

Proposition 67: Statewide ban on plastic bags.

YES: 52 percent. Most grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores and convenience stores will be prohibited from giving customers single-use plastic bags and must charge 10 cents for any other carryout bag they give customers.

NO: 48 percent. Stores can continue giving customers single-use plastic grocery bags unless a local measure prevents them from doing so.

SOURCE: California Voter Guide, produced by the nonpartisan California Secretary of State.