How America Voted

[This article consists of 4 illustrations. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

MARIJUANA

Ohioans voted down a chance to become the first Midwestern state to legalize recreational pot. The controversial proposal would have given monopoly control of the state’s marijuana market to a limited group of backers.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Houston residents rejected an ordinance shielding groups like LGBT people from discrimination, ending a standoff between supporters–including the city’s lesbian mayor–and opponents, who adopted the rallying cry “No men in women’s bathrooms.”

AIRBNB

As San Francisco wrestles with the costs of gentrification, voters rejected a proposal to limit short-term home rentals to 75 nights a year. Airbnb spent over $8 million in a campaign to defeat the measure, considered a potential regulatory model for other cities.

EDUCATION

Mississippi voters rejected a citizen-backed proposal to guarantee full funding of historically strapped public schools by transferring spending oversight to the courts. Opponents of the measure wanted to keep power in the hands of school boards.