SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Proposition 35 received 55 percent of the vote in California during the recent elections. The proposition overrides constitutional restrictions to allow state and local contracting with private entities for engineering and architectural services in all phases of public works projects. It also exempts such services from constitutional requirements to use civil service workforce, and requires competitive selection process for awarding contracts. The new law mandates compliance with rules regarding conflicts of interest, political contributions, unlawful activities. Proposition 35 will also subject contracts for engineering and architectural services to standard accounting practices, with financial and performance audits where necessary.