PORTLAND (Sputnik) — Voters in the US state of California have decided in two parallel propositions to retain the death penalty and expedite executions, according to official elections results released on Wednesday.
California's Proposition 62 proposed banning the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment to include those inmates currently sitting on death row. The measure failed with 54 to 46.
9 November 2016, 02:47 GMT
The state's Proposition 66 imposes time limits of within five years on prisoner reviews, giving inmates a certain amount of time to contest their death sentence instead of being able to drag their cases by petitioning and getting stays. Death penalty appeals in California can take up to 25 years.
Proposition 66 was supported by 51 percent in favor of expediting the execution process, with 49 percent voting against the measure.
Thirty US states have capital punishment. Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Pennsylvania have a gubernatorial moratoria on the death penalty.
