Washington, DC (CNN) Maine primary voters on Tuesday voted to uphold a state law that eliminated philosophical and religious exemptions for mandated childhood vaccines.

"Tonight the health and wellbeing of Maine children prevailed," Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, said in a statement.

"This law leaves medical exemptions up to medical professionals and ensures that Maine children are better protected from the spread of dangerous communicable diseases," Mills said.

Initial passage of the law came amid a resurgence of measles across the nation last year. The disease had previously been declared eliminated in the US in 2000.

The ballot referendum was spearheaded by Mainers for Health and Parental Rights, who submitted more than 92,000 signatures in September 2019 to put a repeal question on the Super Tuesday ballot, citing the need to repeal one of "the most severe vaccine mandate law in the nation."

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