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Which state ballot measures had the widest vote margins in California?

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Question: Which state ballot measures had the widest vote margins in California?

Answer: The 10 statewide ballot measures in California between 1910 and 2022 with the widest vote margins saw at least a 71% difference in vote share for the winning and losing sides. The ballot measure with the widest margin during that period was Proposition 12 in 1972, which was approved with a vote margin of 89.73% approving to 10.27% rejecting. The margin in absolute votes was 6,288,157. The following table shows the vote margins for the widest 10 ballot measure elections in California:[1]


Widest vote margins for California statewide ballot measures, 1910-2022
Measure Year Yes votes No votes Vote margin Outcome
# % # %
Proposition 12
1972
7,100,443
89.73%
812,286
10.27%
79.47%
Approveda
Proposition 11
1954
2,967,383
89.72%
339,938
10.28%
79.44%
Approveda
Proposition 10
1972
7,088,300
89.42%
838,366
10.58%
78.85%
Approveda
Proposition 9
1966
5,034,365
89.27%
605,007
10.73%
78.54%
Approveda
Proposition 1
1944
2,385,571
87.72%
333,892
12.28%
75.44%
Approveda
Proposition 179
1994
3,975,403
87.71%
557,001
12.29%
75.42%
Approveda
Proposition 1
1919
196,084
87.51%
27,992
12.49%
75.02%
Approveda
Proposition 195
1996
4,847,966
85.82%
800,857
14.18%
71.65%
Approveda
Proposition 196
1996
4,873,194
85.80%
806,481
14.20%
71.60%
Approveda
Proposition 101
1988
1,226,735
13.27%
8,020,659
86.73%
-73.47%
Defeatedd


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