Voters elect to ban same-sex marriage in 3 states, 5 pending

Amendments to ban gay marriage won approval Tuesday in three states, including Wisconsin, where gay-rights activists had nursed hopes of engineering the first defeat of such a ban.\nNationwide, a total of 205 measures were on the ballots in 37 states -- ranging from routine bond issues to a riveting contest in South Dakota, where voters chose whether to uphold or reject a toughest-in-the-nation law that would ban virtually all abortions.\nActivists on both sides of the abortion debate were on edge over the campaign, and early returns showed a close contest. If the ban is upheld, abortion-rights supporters are likely to launch a legal challenge that could lead all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.\nEight states had ban-gay-marriage amendments on their ballots; South Carolina and Virginia joined Wisconsin in approving them, while results were pending in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, South Dakota and Tennessee. Similar amendments have passed previously in all 20 states to consider them.\nColorado voters had an extra option -- a measure that would grant domestic-partnership rights to same-sex couples.\nConservatives hoped the same-sex marriage bans might increase turnout for Republicans. Democrats looked for a boost from low-income voters turning out on behalf of measures to raise the state minimum wage in six states. The wage hike passed in Montana and Ohio; results were pending in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana and Nevada.\nIn Missouri, a proposed amendment allowing stem cell research was a factor in the crucial Senate race there; incumbent Republican Jim Talent opposed the measure, while Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill supported it.\nMissouri -- along with Arizona, South Dakota and California -- had a sharp increase in tobacco taxes on its ballot. In California alone, big tobacco companies spent more than $56 million fighting a tax increase that would boost the average price of a pack of cigarettes to $6.55.\nEven more money -- a state record of $133 million -- was raised in the fight over California's Proposition 87, which would tax companies drilling for oil in the state. The proposal sought to raise $4 billion to promote alternative fuels and energy-efficient vehicles.\nNevada and Colorado both offered measures -- trailing badly in the polls -- that would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by anyone 21 and older. A measure in Rhode Island would restore voting rights to felons on probation and parole.\nMichigan voters decided whether to bar the state government from using race and gender to determine who gets into college, who gets hired and who receives contracts.\nElsewhere, land use was a hot issue, part of a backlash against a 2005 Supreme Court ruling allowing the city of New London, Conn., to buy up homes to make way for a private commercial development.\nEleven states considered eminent-domain measures barring the government from taking private property for a private use; Florida, Georgia and South Carolina approved them overwhelmingly. In four states -- Arizona, California, Idaho and Washington -- voters could require state and local authorities to compensate property owners if land-use regulations lowered the value of their property.\nSouth Dakota voters could make their state the first to strip immunity from judges, exposing them to the possibility of lawsuits, fines and even jail for their actions on the bench. Opponents, including leaders of both major parties, said it would create chaos in the judicial system.\nIn Maine, Nebraska and Oregon, voters considered measures that would cap increases in state spending -- similar to a controversial measure approved in Colorado in 1992.\nArizona voters were deciding on the most ballot measures -- 19 -- including four arising from frustration over the influx of illegal immigrants. One measure would make English the state's official language. Another would expand the list of government benefits denied to illegal immigrants.\nAnother Arizona measure proposed a civics incentive: It would award $1 million to a randomly selected voter in each general election.