Schwarzenegger said it was either bonds or tax rises and cuts

Results from Tuesday's vote on the plan indicate 61% of voters are in favour of the controversial borrowing.

"California is back on track," he told his supporters in a victory speech in Santa Monica.

California's massive debts means it faces financial crisis by June unless it raises the amount by then.

Financial 'Armageddon'

More than 70% of voters also endorsed Proposition 58 which includes measures to balance future state budgets.

BONDS An IOU a borrower issues to a lender Bonds are sold with a promise that, at a fixed point in the future, the issuer will pay back the face value - in the meantime, the lender receives interest The level of interest depends on the perceived risk involved in lending to the borrower The California bond matures after 30 years Bonds worth hundreds of billions of dollars are traded every day in the world's financial markets More on bonds

Another huge borrowing measure, Proposition 55, which would sell $12.3bn in bonds to improve schools, also appears to have been passed.

The bond issue will be the largest undertaken by a state or city authority.

Mr Schwarzenegger's strategy did not have much public support just a few weeks ago but he may have turned that around after a round of appearances across the state.

He also launched a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign in which he warned voters that the only alternative was an "Armageddon" of spending cuts and possible tax increases.

'Reckless'

The Republican governor also managed to win the support of some of his Democrat opponents who dominate the state's government.

But others - led by California's Democrat state treasurer Phil Angelides - have denounced the proposal as a reckless step that just passes the burden of debt onto the next generation of Californian taxpayers.

The proceeds of the bond would be used to make a $14bn debt repayment that falls due in June.

Missing the repayment would force California to roll over its debts, prompting lenders to raise their interest rates, and putting the state under further financial pressure.

Rating agencies have warned that California's credit rating will fall heavily if it misses the repayment deadline.

According to some estimates, California would have the fifth biggest economy in the world if it were an independent country.

But the collapse of the technology bubble, high social welfare costs, and entrenched voter resistance to higher taxes have plunged the state's finances deep into the red.