Cigarette Tax Closes Gap

The margin of defeat for the Proposition 29 ballot measure is beginning to narrow.

The initiative would raise the state’s cigarette tax by one dollar. On election night proponents were trailing by around 69,000 votes, but the Secretary of State’s Office now says that the lead has shrunk down to 16,778. The State has nearly 450,000 ballots still to tabulate.

The Associated Press reports that around 52 percent of the remaining votes would need to be in favor for the ballot measure to pass. In Tuolumne County 61% of the voters were opposed to the tax, and in Calaveras County 63% voted no.

For complete election results from the June Primary click on the myMotherLode.com Election Page.