As of 7:20 a.m. Wednesday, KQED showed No at 55.5% (4.27 million votes) and Yes at 44.4% (3.41 million). ABC7 had the same 56%-44% split with 4,279,014 No votes.
The measure would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on individuals with assets above $1 billion who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026. KQED says 90% of the money would have gone to health care services, with the other 10% for food assistance and education programs, potentially raising tens of billions of dollars.
The rival measures
Two competing measures were written to undercut it. Prop 42, which bans new taxes on financial assets like stocks and most retroactive taxes, was passing about 54% to 46% in both sources. Prop 41, which would have required audits of special-tax programs and put their revenue under the state spending limit, was failing roughly 52% to 48%.
KQED notes that if Prop 40 had passed, it could have been nullified by either rival winning more votes. With Prop 40 trailing, that conflict looks unlikely to matter, though counting continues.
All results are unofficial election-night and early-morning counts as of Wednesday, Nov. 4. Counties keep counting mail and provisional ballots for days, and certification comes later, so margins can shift, especially in close contests.