WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Voters in 37 states have approved a wide range of ballot measures, including seven gay marriage bans and an approval of stem cell research in Missouri.
A gay marriage ban was defeated in Arizona, as was a sweeping ban on abortion in South Dakota, the Christian Science Monitor reported Thursday.
Six states, including Arizona, voted to increase the minimum wage. That state also passed measures prohibiting state subsidies to illegal aliens and setting English as the official language of Arizona by wide margins.
"The voters are changing things in Washington but also changing a lot in their states using direct democracy," said John Matsusaka, director of the Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California.
"Arguably, if you really look at what goes on in states, these decisions set the tone and drive the agenda of what politicians will focus on in taking the directions that really affect people's lives," he told the Monitor. "The ballot (propositions) are as important as what the guys in state legislatures do."
