Abortion, quotas among topics in Election Day referendums

Missouri is a battlefront in the debate over smoking; along with South Dakota and California, it has a hefty increase in tobacco taxes on its ballot. In California alone the two big tobacco majors, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, have spent more than $56 million fighting a tax that would boost the average price of a cigarette pack to $6.55.

Even more money—a record of $133 million—has been raised in the fight over California’s Proposition 87, which would tax companies drilling for Oil in the state to raise $4 billion to promote alternative fuels and energy-efficient vehicles. To compete against the oil companies, which have contributed more than $80 million, Hollywood producer Stephen Bing single-handedly gave $43 million o the environmentalist coalition supporting the tax.

Nevada and Colorado both offer measures that would legalise possession of up to 28 grams of marijuana by anyone 21 and older. A measure in Rhode Island would restore voting rights to felons on probation and parole.

In Michigan, voters will decide whether to bar the state from using affirmative action to determine who gets into college, who gets hired and who receives contracts. The measure, which comes just weeks before the US Supreme Court is to hear arguments in two cases that could mean big changes in federal affirmative action law, is opposed by the Democratic and Republican governor candidates and a slew of business, labour, educational and religious groups. But recent polls indicate it has a chance.

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