Voters cast ballots on a range of issues on election night and backed a decision to give stars the option of wearing condoms by 54 per cent to 46 per cent.

California is the capital of the porn industry as well as the largest movie industry.

If Proposition 60 had been passed, actors could have been subjected to criminal charges simply for not wearing one.

Actors said they had a right to their own bodies and wanted condoms to be optional rather than a legal requirement.

Many performers and public health experts claimed the new rules would have been less safe than the existing industry standard called `Performer Availability Scheduling Services`.

Under that system, porn stars are tested fortnightly for STIs and the results are kept in a private database.

Producers then pick actors who are deemed `available` by the database.

But under the new legislation, they would only have been tested every three months.

Opponents had argued porn stars should wear condoms to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis or human papillomavirus.

Michael Weinstein, president of Aids Healthcare Foundation, claimed the law was `about protecting the performers`.

He added: `Many young people get their information from these films, and the message they get is that the only hot sex is unsafe sex.`

Elsewhere, California voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

The initiative allows Californians who are 21 and older to possess, transport and buy up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and use it for recreational purposes.

It comes six years after California voters narrowly rejected a similar measure.

Activists said it was an important moment in the fight for legalization across the country.

Massachusetts and Nevada also approved recreational pot, while voters in Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas supported medical marijuana measures.

Voters in California also decided on tougher gun laws, requiring people buying ammunition to undergo background checks.

The vote - which came nearly a year after two terrorists gunned down 14 people in San Bernardino - also outlawed possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Golden State voters also decided to speed up the death penalty process rather than repealing it, as well as raising tobacco tax, extending income tax rates for the wealthy and introducing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

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