UPDATE: Although many California ballots remain to be counted, as of June 8, a $1-a-pack cigarette tax appears likely to go down to defeat.
Berkeley Community College emerged a winner from yesterday's election.
The definitive success of Measure B will bring an estimated $8 million into the Peralta Commmunity College District's dry coffers each year.
More than $30 million in budget cuts over the past three years has resulted in closures and overcrowding, with almost 4,000 students being turned away.
More than 48,000 voters -- nearly 72 percent -- cast ballots for the measure.
Its passage levies an annual special parcel tax of $48 on all parcels for a period of eight years to fund core academic programs, career training, and counseling at Berkeley Community College and other campuses in the Peralta system, including College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College.
More information is available at Smart Voter.
In other results, Sen. Dianne Feinstein easily won re-election.
A state term limits measure won wide approval, carrying more than 67 percent of the vote. Proposition 28 cuts the total time a state lawmaker may serve from 14 years to 12 years, but it allows 12 years' service in one house.
Proposition 29, a $1-a-pack cigarette tax, appeared likely to become California law with the approval of nearly 64 percent of voters, although many ballots remain to be counted. Cigarette companies poured $47 million into a campaign to defeat the measure.
For full election results, visit the Alameda County Registrar.
