Voters rejected a proposed ballot measure that would have banned the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats and lynx in Colorado, according to the Associated Press.

AP News announced the race at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

About 56% of votes counted were against the proposal and about 45% were in favor as of 8:50 a.m. The unofficial vote count showed the proposal trailing by more than 260,000 votes. Most counties in the state rejected the measure, except for a few in the Front Range and southwest of the state.

In two Front Range counties, Arapahoe and Broomfield, the measure was only narrowly approved, according to the secretary of state’s office. The measure was approved by at least 15 percentage points in Denver and Boulder counties.

San Miguel and San Juan counties, both sparsely populated, also approved the measure.

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The proposal would have made hunting the three cats a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Exceptions would have been made for cats endangering the lives of people or livestock and for certain accidental deaths.

On average, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reports that 505 mountain lions have been hunted each year over the past three years. During the same period, approximately 880 bobcats, classified as a “furbearer” species in Colorado, were hunted each year.

The lynx is listed as endangered in Colorado and threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, so it is illegal to hunt in the state. The ballot initiative would have preserved the hunting ban if the species were ever delisted at the state or federal level.

Cats Aren’t Trophies, the citizen group that petitioned to pass Proposition 127, has led a campaign arguing that the current methods of hunting these wild cats are cruel, unethical, recreational and not not necessary to successfully manage the species.

Opponents argued the initiative undermined Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s authority and its scientific management of the species, which includes hunting.

Cats Aren’t Trophies, the committee supporting Proposition 127, raised $3 million while its opponent, Wildlife Deserve Better of Colorado, raised $1.9 million. The Western Heritage Conservation Alliance, another group opposed to the measure, had raised $1.6 million as of October 28.

Journalist Ali Longwell contributed to this report.