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CARSON CITY, Nev. (BP) – Voters in Nevada and Arkansas took what they consider to be different and controversial religious freedom measures in the Nov. 8 elections, when marijuana was passed in second of the five countries considered.
Nevada voters added gender identity and sexual orientation to the liberties protected in the state constitution with 57.11 percent of voters approving the Equal Rights Amendment, the Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske.
Arkansans appear to have overwhelmingly defeated a constitutional amendment that would have barred the state from encroachment on religious freedom “even if the encroachment would result from a reasonable provision of law,” and would have limited such efforts to “conditions least.” With 97.3 percent of the votes counted, Proposition No. 3 and the Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment failed with 50.44 percent of voters opposed, Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston said.
Among states seeking to legalize the use of marijuana, Maryland and Missouri approved the measure, while failing to do so. Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The Nevada constitutional amendment, opposed by religious freedom advocates including the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), would add gender identity or expression and sexual orientation to a long list of protected rights including race, color, creed, sex, age, disability, ancestry and nationality. origin.
The amendment opened the door to “state discrimination, inequality and restriction,” ADF said of the measure, which said men identifying as women would be allowed to compete for jobs. space for women’s sports teams, women’s scholarships and other opportunities. designated for women.
In Arkansas, the state sought to add a measure to the constitution that would grant the freedoms guaranteed in the United States’ 1993 Religious Freedom Freedom Act (RFRA) but did not apply to states. At least 21 states have adopted these measures since the US Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that RFRA did not apply to states, according to Ballotpedia.org.
JD “Sonny” Tucker, executive director of the Arkansas Baptist Convention, called the measure “a good prescription to ensure the health of our community.”
“If passed, the amendment would add voice to the federal constitution and help protect religious freedom for generations to come from the whims and fancies of elections and political parties. later,” he told Baptist Press before the vote. “It is my sincere hope that the voters of Arkansas take strong enough protections for religious freedom to pass Issue 3.”
Measures to legalize adult use and possession of marijuana passed in Maryland with 65.54 percent of the vote, and in Missouri with 53.11 percent of the vote, according to unofficial election results. from the secretaries of state.
The Missouri measure applies to adults over the age of 21, imposes a 6 percent sales tax on the recreational drug and allows people convicted of certain marijuana-related offenses to petition for release from prison and expungement of their records, according to the measure. .
Maryland’s law legalizing the use of marijuana by adults will begin in July 2023 and mandate the Maryland legislature to pass laws on the use, distribution, regulation and taxation of the substance.
Attempts to legalize marijuana failed in Arkansas with 56.26 percent against the measure, in North Dakota with 54.95 percent and in South Dakota with 53 percent of voters who rejected the measure, according to the secretaries of state.
Five states – Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont – sought to remove from their constitutions old racist language that legalized slavery or servitude as punishment for crimes. All but Louisiana succeeded, according to election results from the states.
The Louisiana measure failed after its sponsor, Democratic State Rep. Edmond Jordan, urged voters to reject the measure because of its wording. The Louisiana Black Caucus and Democratic members of the state house also opposed the measure.
“Because of the confusion in the format, I am asking people to vote against it, so that we can go and clean it up with the intention of bringing it back next year, so that the language is clear, clear, clear. ” Ballotpedia quoted Jordan before the election. “Whatever happens, we have to bring it back and fix it.”
In other poll questions across the country:
- Tennesseans, with 63 percent of the vote, adopted an unenforced constitutional provision that prohibits ministers and priests from serving in the state legislature, the Secretary of State said. of State Tre Hargett.
- Californians rejected gambling in both cases, with 70.1 percent of voters opposing land-based sports betting and 83.3 percent of voters opposing online sports betting. outside of tribal lands, said California Secretary of State Shirley Weber.
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