California lawmakers earlier this year declined to put an anti-slavery measure on the ballot, delaying a decision on a proposal to forbid the practice of using work as a form of criminal punishment.
Voters in five other states – Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont – this week saw similar measures on their ballots, reflecting a nationwide push to wipe out the vestiges of enslavement in American law.
Of the five, only Louisiana voted not to ban slavery as a form of criminal punishment.
