text: Story highlights Voters in Colorado resoundingly supported taxing marijuana on Tuesday 
   
   Voters in 6 states will consider 31 ballot measures Tuesday 
   
   Voters in 11 Colorado counties are considering the question of secession 
   
   New Jersey voters are being asked to raise their state's minimum wage to $8.25 per hour 
   
   Last year, voters in Colorado approved legalizing recreational marijuana, and on Tuesday night, they resoundingly supported taxing it. 
   
   With nearly all votes counted, 65% supported the new tax, while 35% opposed it. The measure would impose a special 15% excise tax on marijuana to help fund school construction, along with a 10% sales tax to bolster marijuana-related law enforcement efforts. 
   
   The passage was widely expected, despite opponents arguing it's unfair to single out marijuana for higher taxation than products such as beer. 
   
   Strong support for the measure is pegged largely to the money it is expected to bring in. The nonpartisan Colorado Legislative Council projects that the measure will generate nearly $70 million in additional state tax revenue next year. 
   
   There were 30 other measures on the ballot in six states Tuesday, all of which were too early to call for CNN. Here are highlights from a few: 
   
   Colorado: secession 
   
   Voters in 11 counties in northern Colorado are being asked if they want to secede from the state. Ten counties in conservative, rural northeastern Colorado would theoretically form a 51st state known as North Colorado. Moffat County, located in the northwest corner of the state, would become a panhandle for neighboring Wyoming. 
   
   JUST WATCHED Colorado conservatives want to secede Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Colorado conservatives want to secede 02:44 
   
   The plan has no chance of becoming reality. Among other things, it would also require statewide and congressional approval. But approval or even a close vote at the county level would send a loud message of growing grassroots conservative anger toward a more liberal Denver-based Democratic establishment that has taken up controversial measures related to gun control, gay rights and green energy. 
   
   With more than 50,000 votes counted in Weld County, the most populated county of those trying to secede, 58% of votes were against secession and 42% were in favor of it. CNN, however, does not yet have a projection on this measure. 
   
   Similar secession measures have been floated in a number of other states in recent years in a reflection of the country's growing ideological and partisan divide. 
   
   Washington: Labeling genetically modified food 
   
   Voters in Washington state are considering a hotly contested initiative that would require labeling all foods containing genetically modified ingredients. The measure pits local consumer advocates, who argue that the measure is needed for consumers to make better informed choices, against large agribusinesses such as Monsanto, which argue that such a law would spook potential customers and unfairly imply that such products are unsafe. 
   
   Washington is the second state to consider such a ballot measure. A similar proposal was narrowly rejected by California voters last year. 
   
   With more than 800,000 votes counted, 53% of Washington State voters opposed the labeling, while 47% supported it. It is still, however, too early for CNN to call this race. 
   
   According to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, 95 bills relating to the issue have been introduced in various legislatures so far this year -- a reflection of growing public interest in the controversy surrounding genetically modified foods. 
   
   Other noteworthy measures 
   
   Voters in New Jersey are considering whether to amend their constitution to raise the state minimum wage from the federal level of $7.25 to $8.25 per hour. Future annual increases would be tied to changes in the cost of living. Eighteen states have a minimum wage that exceeds the federal requirement, according to the NCSL. 
   
   New York voters are being asked to revise their constitution to allow the legislature in Albany to authorize seven casinos, with the goal of generating new revenue for public schools and potentially cutting property taxes. ||||| A A 
   
   SEATTLE - Initiative 522 would change the law only in Washington state, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the lists of campaign donors. 
   
   Of the $22 million raised to oppose the proposal to label genetically engineered food, exactly $550 has come from individuals and companies based in Washington, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. 
   
   The initiative’s proponents, although more locally funded, have received $5.8 million of their $8.4 million from outside Washington. 
   
   “This is really out-of-state interests fighting over how to influence law in our state,” said Matt Barreto, a political science professor at the University of Washington. 
   
   It’s a phenomenon that has rarely been seen here on such a large scale. But in this unusual year, with several nationally watched issues on the ballot and few big-ticket campaigns in other states, the influx of outside cash is arising in different ways, including in local races dominated by out-of-city or out-of-county funding. 
   
   Political insiders and experts said the pattern could threaten the core promise of the initiative process and representative democracy itself - that citizens get to decide the laws that govern them and politicians who represent them. 
   
   Consider: 
   
   In SeaTac, population 26,909, the groups supporting and opposing a $15 local minimum wage have spent nearly $2 million, with large contributions from out-of-state groups and very little from city residents. 
   
   On the Kitsap Peninsula, a state Senate campaign has drawn the attention of a California billionaire. 
   
   And in Whatcom County, state and national environmentalists have contributed about $300,000 to County Council races and been answered by more than half that from international-coal corporations. 
   
   “It’s something that’s happening more and more all around the country,” said former state Sen. Debbie Regala, a Tacoma Democrat known for how little she spent in a 2008 campaign. “And it’s a sad commentary on our political system, but it’s a reality.” 
   
   National experts said outside spending is indeed on the rise nationwide. They and locals offered varying explanations. 
   
   Sarah Bryner, research director at the national Center for Responsive Politics, said the 24 states with initiative processes are increasingly being used as testing grounds for issues that could be implemented around the country. 
   
   “Certain states can be leaders on certain issues, and if you are a person who’s passionate about an issue, you may see it as being in your interest to support early adapters with the hope that it may trickle down to your own state or other states,” she said. 
   
   Western Washington University Professor Todd Donovan agreed that national actors are using the statewide genetically modified food-labeling debate and the SeaTac minimum-wage proposition “as sort of a platform to get greater visibility for their issue.” 
   
   “And then there’s the Tom Steyer guy,” said Donovan, referring to the billionaire businessman who has contributed to a special state Senate election and four Whatcom County Council races through his NextGen Climate Action Committee. 
   
   A Steyer spokesman did not return a telephone message. 
   
   The GMO and minimum-wage ballot measures could have major economic ramifications for companies. 
   
   They are also seen as part of national movements. 
   
   Initiative 522 is a replay of a $53 million battle that took place in California last year, where a pro-labeling campaign lost. 
   
   This year, the biggest “no” donor has been the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based food-industry group that revealed its donors after state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued last month. It has put in $11 million. 
   
   Monsanto, a St. Louis-based biotech company, has given more than $5 million. 
   
   The $22 million total to combat Initiative 522 is the most ever raised for one side of an initiative election. 
   
   Dana Bieber, a No on 522 spokeswoman, said “The funders of our campaign are supporting their customers, who are all in the state of Washington.” 
   
   She said the main concern for voters is not campaign funders but how the proposal would affect them. 
   
   But Elizabeth Larter, a spokeswoman for the other side, said the lack of in-state donors shows that the “no” side doesn’t have in-state support.
target: – Could "North Colorado" soon become the 51st state? Voters in 11 northern Colorado counties will get to weigh in tomorrow on whether or not they'd like to secede from the state, CNN reports. Ten of the conservative-leaning counties would become North Colorado, while the other would become a panhandle for Wyoming. Of course, CNN thinks there's zero chance this actually happens, because the entire state and congress would have to vote to approve the move. But it still stands as one of the more intriguing ballot measures up for vote tomorrow. Others include: Colorado is also voting on whether or not to impose a 15% excise tax on now-legal marijuana sales, which would go to fund school construction, and an additional 10% sales tax to fund marijuana enforcement laws. Washington state has a measure that would require special labeling for genetically-modified food—a proposal that met with ardent opposition and eventual defeat in California last year. Sure enough, out-of-state opponents have poured money into this race as well, the Seattle Times reports; of the whopping $22 million raised in opposition, $550 has come from Washingtonians. New Jersey will consider a constitutional amendment to raise the state's minimum wage to $8.25 an hour. New Yorkers are considering whether or not to allow the construction of seven casinos, with the proceeds going towards education and/or cutting property taxes. New Jersey is also considering a gambling bill of sorts, the Star-Ledger reports, allowing veterans' groups to raise money via Bingo games, raffles, and similar games.