The following is a list of California ballot propositions broken down by decade. Propositions can be placed on the ballot either through the initiative process or by a vote of the state legislature. Propositions were added to the California constitution as part of the ethics reform instituted by Governor Hiram Johnson in the early 1910s.
List of California ballot propositions 1910–1919
List of California ballot propositions 1920–1929
List of California ballot propositions 1930–1939
List of California ballot propositions 1940–1949
List of California ballot propositions 1950–1959
List of California ballot propositions 1960–1969
List of California ballot propositions 1970–1979
List of California ballot propositions 1980–1989
List of California ballot propositions 1990–1999
List of California ballot propositions 2000–2009
List of California ballot propositions 2010–2019
Ballot measures were not numbered prior to the general election of 1914. Until the November 1982 general election, proposition numbers started with "1" for each election. After November 1982, subsequent propositions received sequentially increasing numbers until November 1998 when the count was reset to "1". Starting with November 1998, the count is reset in 10-year cycles.
Until 1960, citizen-led initiative measures appeared on general election ballots only. From 1960 to 2012, initiative measures appeared on primary, general, and special election ballots. In October 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill which requires all future ballot initiatives to be listed only in general elections (held in November in even-numbered years), rather than during any statewide election. Two propositions had already qualified for the next statewide election (which was the June 2012 presidential primaries) prior to the signing of the law, making the June 2012 primaries the last statewide non-general election in California to have statewide initiatives on the ballot. Propositions originating in the State Legislature can still appear on non-general election ballots, as was the case with Propositions 41 and 42 in June 2014.
Some notable propositions which have received a great deal of attention include
Proposition 6 (1978) (defeated) on barring homosexuality in the public school system
Proposition 13 (1978) (passed) on property tax; imposing 2/3 requirement for budget vote, tax increases
Proposition 65 (1986) (passed) on notification of hazardous materials
Proposition 98 (1988) (passed) on school funding (requires minimum percentage of budget to be directed toward education with increases based on inflation)
Proposition 187 (1994) (passed, then declared unconstitutional) on denying illegal immigrants eligibility to receive public services (immediate stay was federally imposed and is still in effect)
Proposition 209 (1996) (passed) on banning affirmative action in public sector (employment, education, etc.)
Proposition 215 (1996) (passed) on legalizing medical marijuana
Proposition 218 (1996) (passed) on right to vote on taxes; constitutional follow-up to Proposition 13 (1978)
Proposition 22 (2000) (passed, then declared unconstitutional) on a statute banning same-sex marriage
Proposition 52 (2002) (defeated) Would allow voting registration on Election Day.
Proposition 71 (2004) (passed) On the use of stem cells in scientific research.
Proposition 73 (2005) (defeated) on parental notification before abortion
Proposition 83 (2006) (passed) on various restrictions of civil liberties for paroled sex offenders (Jessica's Law)
Proposition 85 (2006) (defeated) second attempt at Proposition 73
Proposition 8 (2008) (passed, then declared unconstitutional) on a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in order to override the In re Marriage Cases (Proposition 22) decision earlier that year that legalized same-sex marriage
Proposition 14 (2010) (passed) established non-partisan blanket primaries in place of closed primaries
Proposition 19 (2010) (defeated) on the legalization of marijuana
Proposition 37 (2012) (defeated) Requires labeling on raw or processed food offered for sale to consumers if made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified way.
Proposition 34 (2012) (defeated) on the abolition of the death penalty
Proposition 47 (2014) (passed) Redefined some nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors, rather than felonies, as they had previously been categorized.
