California Voters Reverse Decade-Old Crime Ballot Measure, Opting To Crackdown On Retail Theft, Drugs

California voted to pass a ballot measure aimed at reducing retail theft and drug use in the state, reversing a decade-old measure, according to The Associated Press and multiple sources.

Proposition 36, which increases penalties for retail theft and drug possession, while mandating treatment for certain drug felonies is projected to pass, according to the AP and multiplesources. The measure undoes provisions from Proposition 47 passed in 2014, which has been maligned as a failure by some in the state.

California crime has increased in recent years, with robberies up 3.8% in 2023 and shoplifting increasing by almost 40% the same year, according to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). Violent crime is still elevated 15.4% in 2023 compared to 2019.

Vice President Kamala Harris declined to comment on how she would vote on the measure in her home state. She also did not disclose her vote on Proposition 47.

Among the measure’s notable