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Denver, CO — Americans approved a mix of conservative and liberal measures on Tuesday and sent some surprising signals on tax relief, same-sex marriage, abortion restrictions and tobacco taxes, according to an election-night analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

"Voters took firm stands on taxes, minimum wage, marijuana legalization, abortion restrictions, immigration restrictions, eminent domain and smoking restrictions," said NCSL election analyst Jennie Drage Bowser. "They were reluctant to approve measures to reduce government power but receptive to conservative-leaning measures. Liberal-leaning measures received mixed results."

Americans acted on 204 measures and took a more cautious approach to the 76 placed by the initiative process, the second highest in the last eight election cycles. Just over a third of those initiatives were approved, compared with 48 percent of initiatives approved between 1990 and 2004. 

"Voters may have finally reached their threshold of tolerance for issues financed by out-of-state petitioners," Bowser said. "Despite an environment of frustration with government, voters clearly acted on ballot measures on an issue-by-issue basis."

Some key findings include:

-- Major tax cuts, along with tax and spending limits in six states, all failed. Voters in Maine, Nebraska and Oregon rejected tax and spending limits while voters in Oregon, South Dakota and Washington decided against significant tax reductions. 

-- Same-sex marriage bans were approved in seven states - Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. Arizona became the first state to reject such a ban. 

-- Abortion restrictions failed in California, Oregon and South Dakota. 

-- Minimum wage increases were approved in all six states it appeared on the ballot: Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio. 

-- Efforts to legalize marijuana failed in all three states: Colorado, Nevada and South Dakota. 

-- Measures to restrict immigration were approved in Arizona and Colorado. 

-- Voters in eight states - Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon and South Carolina -- approved measures to restrict eminent domain for economic development. Broader and more controversial regulatory takings measures passed in Arizona, but failed in California, Idaho and Washington. 

-- Tobacco tax increases were approved in Arizona and South Dakota and rejected in California and Missouri. 

Other notable results include:

-- An affirmative action ban passed in Michigan. 

-- Rhode Island restored voting rights to felons when they are released from prison. 

Complete ballot measure results are at www.ncsl.org/statevote/06ballotmeasures.htm. 
Article provided in partnership with GayWebMonkey.com.