Nearly three-in-four California voters favour a November ballot question on whether to more than triple the per-pack tax on cigarettes, according to a poll cited by the Sacramento Bee.

Proposition 56 would raise duty paid on a pack of 20 cigarettes in the state by USD 2 to USD 2.87, the newspaper said on its website. Conducted by the Institute of Government Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, the poll showed 74.3 per cent of respondents favoured the increase. More than 3,000 registered voters participated in an online questionnaire conducted between June 29 and July 18, the Bee reported.