Americans Voted To Get Tough On Crime This Election As Measures Pass With Resounding Support

Americans approved a slew of new anti-crime ballot measures in Tuesday’s elections as voters responded to persistent crime in their own backyards.

Ballot measures in Arizona, Colorado and California cracking down on crime all passed with resounding margins, according to multiple sources. Going into election day, 75% of voters said crime was very or somewhat important to their decision at the polls, according to a Gallup poll released Oct. 9.

Proposition 36, which raises penalties for retail theft and drug possession, passed in California with 70% of voter support, according to The Associated Press. The initiative effectively reverses the 2014 Proposition 47, which lowered penalties for retail theft under $950 and certain drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, severely hampering crime enforcement efforts, according to the measure.

The 2014 law had been criticized by opponents as a failure due to an explosion in retail theft in the state. Robberies were up 3.8% and shoplifting up by almost 40% in 2023 compared to 2019, according to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). Violent crime also remains elevated in the state at 15.4% in that same time frame.

In Colorado, residents voted on Proposition 128, which requires those guilty of certain violent crimes like second-degree murder, first-degree assault, class 2 felony kidnapping or sexual assault to serve at least 85% of their sentence to be eligible for parole, raising the threshold from 75%,