SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California voters have rejected Proposition 45, the ballot initiative that would have weakened the state’s environmental protection law for a wide category of polluting projects. With about 76% of the votes counted from the Nov. 3 election, roughly 56% of voters opposed the measure, ahead by 1.1 million votes.

“This strong rejection of Prop. 45 shows that Californians are willing to fight to keep our air and water clean,” said Aruna Prabhala, senior attorney and urban wildlands director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “When we can’t rely on the federal government to protect our communities and the environment, we need strong state laws to keep us safe. I hope developers heard us loud and clear. We’re not interested in giving polluting projects a free pass.”

Today’s latest Prop. 45 results were released as Democrats across the country celebrate sweeping wins in Congress and governorships.

The Center for Biological Diversity was part of a coalition of more than 600 groups — including healthcare workers, labor unions and environmental justice organizations — opposing Prop. 45.

The California measure would have allowed projects like freeway expansions, dams and data centers to bypass a thorough environmental review and limit the power of courts to weigh in. The initiative, backed by the California Chamber of Commerce, data center developers and the state’s largest utilities, would also hand more power to the developers of those projects by making it easier for them to sue agencies that push back.