(Ken Silva, Headline USA) California voters have rejected a proposition that would have banned slavery and forced labor in prisons—a measure that conservative states, including Alabama and Tennessee, have already implemented.
California’s Proposition 6 would have amended the state’s constitution to “bar slavery in any form and repeal a current provision allowing involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime.”
But as of the publication of this article, Proposition 6 was failing by nearly 10 percentage points.
3.8 MILLION PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA VOTED TO KEEP SLAVERY LEGAL. pic.twitter.com/1tIVjfHSkT
— fedaykin 🇵🇸🔻🇱🇧 (@fedaykineya) November 6, 2024
Even though slavery is banned in conservative states, some state lawmakers attributed Proposition 6’s failure on a “rightward shift in California on criminal justice,” according to the New York Times.
“I think the narrative around Prop. 6 got swept into the fear politics that are driving the return to mass incarceration and the tough-on-crime era,” said Isaac Bryan, a state assemblyman, told the Times.
“It’s a clear measure in terms of affirming our values and living them out in our constitution,” he reportedly added. “It’s unfortunate and disturbing that it would be struggling the way it is.”
According to the Times, only 41% of those surveyed in September and October indicated that they would support the measure, which was an early sign that it was likely headed toward defeat.
The measure failed despite the fact that there was no opposition argument in the official state voter guide, and that the measure was backed by the California Democratic Party, labor unions and the mayor of Los Angeles, according to the Times.
“But less than $2 million was raised to support Proposition 6, hardly enough to reach most of the state’s 22.6 million voters,” the Times added.
“A stronger campaign explaining the measure may have better positioned Proposition 6 for success … Voters may have been unclear on the level of support or opposition by either party.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
