The Associated Press has called the results of California’s Proposition 29 and is declaring that the measure will go down in defeat.
In a story published at 3:27 PM EDT on Friday, the AP reports that “the measure failed by 50.3 percent to 49.7 with about 5 million votes cast, The Associated Press determined Friday. The measure was losing by about 27,000 votes with 150,000 ballots remaining to be counted; too few for the `yes’ side to pull ahead.”
As of 9:41 AM PDT on Friday, the vote was 50.3% opposing the measure and 49.7% in favor, with vote totals of 2,518,344 and 2,490,456, respectively.
County elections officials have until July 6 to finalize their election results and submit those numbers to Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who has until July 13 to certify the election. With the close margins, there is significant speculation that a recount will be requested, which could delay a final decision.
UPDATE: The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the Yes on 29 campaign has conceded the election following the latest round of mail-in ballot counting, though they are promising to be back with other similar measures.