Election Notes CULTURE No Se Habla Espanol

The growing number of Spanish-speaking Americans has produced a powerful backlash among voters. Referendums declaring English the official language passed in Florida and Colorado; a similar initiative was leading in Arizona. Although it is not clear how the Florida and Colorado laws will affect daily life, the Arizona proposition instructs local governments and their employees to "act in English and in no other language."

In other actions, voters rejected ballot initiatives that could have had destructive consequences. Californians turned down a proposal to require doctors to report the identities of AIDS carriers. Voters in Utah and Colorado said no to measures that would have rolled back taxes and severely restricted the states' ability to raise new revenue. In Michigan, however, voters decisively approved a ban on state-funded abortions; Republican and Democratic Governors alike had vetoed similar bills 18 times.