California Proposition 1 is too close to call with the “yes” vote leading by 0.28% as of March 19 with more than 95% of the vote accounted for. If the margin remains this narrow, Proposition 1 will become one of 16 California statewide measures decided by a margin of less than 0.5% of the vote. At its current margin, it would be the eighth-closest statewide ballot measure election in the state.
The measure with the closest margin was SCA 14, the Increase State Officers’ Salaries Amendment, in 1908. It was approved by a margin of two votes. The measure increased the annual compensation for state officers, including the governor.
Nine of the 15 closest measures were defeated, and six were approved. A majority of the measures (10) were decided at elections before 1950. Only one measure in the closest 15 elections, Proposition 29 (2012), was decided in the last 25 years. Proposition 29, an initiative that would have enacted a tobacco tax to fund cancer research, was defeated with 0.47% separating yes and no vote totals.
