The vote gap between yes and no votes on Proposition 11 widened slightly Wednesday, but opponents of the measure said it's too early to concede defeat.

Yes votes totaled 5,226,559 as of Wednesday afternoon, compared to 5,072,843 no votes, for a difference of 153,716. The yes vote had 50.8 percent, while no votes constituted 49.2 percent.

On Wednesday, 50.7 percent had voted yes and 49.3 percent had voted no.

But Paul Hefner, a spokesman for the No on 11 group Citizens for Accountability, said that with an estimated 1.8 million votes still to be counted statewide, the gap is far from decisive.

"Who knows how it's going to work out?" he said, while adding that in drawn-out ballot counts, early returns often favor Republicans or GOP causes because the vote-by-mail ballots are processed first.

That changes later, he said, as provisional ballots, which usually favor Democrats, are then counted. The state Democratic party opposed Proposition 11.

"You just don't know how it turns out until you see some substantial numbers get counted," he said.

Supporters of Proposition 11, which included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Common Cause and the state AARP, claimed victory for the measure a week ago.

A spokesperson for the group did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.

ELSEWHERE on PollitickerCA.com:

• Proposition 11 still considered undecided
• Backers for Proposition 11 hail victory
• Prop. 11 supporters, opponents taking wait-and-see posture