Washington, Nov 9 (EFE).- Massachusetts and Nevada endorsed the legalization of recreational cannabis use, as did California which, like Nebraska also opted to uphold the death penalty in polling conducted alongside the United States presidential elections.
California supported the motion to legalize cannabis with almost 56 percent of the vote, mirroring sentiments in Massachusetts (53.5 percent), Nevada (54 percent) and Maine where with 88 percent of votes counted, 50.4 percent were in favor.
These states join the likes of Oregon, Washington state, Alaska and Colorado where cannabis consumption is already legal.
Meanwhile, Florida, Arkansas, Montana and North Dakota all approved the legalization of marijuana for medical use.
Arizona rejected the measure with 52 percent voting against the legalization of the drug.
Some 54.5 percent of people rejected a motion to abolish the death penalty in California, the state with the highest number of inmates on death row.
In Nebraska, people voted similarly with 61 percent opting to reinstate capital punishment, reversing a legislative decision to abolish it in 2015.
Bills to increase the minimum wage were approved in Arizona, Washington, Colorado and Maine but rejected by South Dakota.
Many of these state-wide measures will have been eclipsed by the shock national election of winner Republican Donald Trump who, unlike his predecessors, is the first president-elect to have never held positions in office or the military.
Trump vowed that he would unite a divided country following Hillary Clinton’s shock loss.