LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — California voters defeated Proposition 34, which would have abolished the death penalty in the state.

The measure failed to pass 47.1 percent to 52.9 percent, according to the California Secretary of State.

Prop. 34 would have applied retroactively for inmates currently on death row with their sentences commuted to life without the possibility of parole.

It estimated that $100 million a year would have been saved by taking inmates off death row.