NC Voters Want Marriage Amendment

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NC Voters Want Marriage Amendment

Special Report - April 27, 2010
Seventy percent of likely North Carolina voters support a marriage protection amendment to the State Constitution, according to a survey released this month. The John W. Pope Civitas Institute poll asked 600 likely voters around the state, “Would you support or oppose a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as an act between a man and a woman?” While seven in 10 indicated support, less than a quarter opposed such an amendment. More than two-thirds of Democrats (68 percent), Caucasians (69 percent), and women (68 percent) support a marriage protection amendment for North Carolina. With even higher numbers, 79 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of African Americans, and 73 percent of men in North Carolina support including the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman in the State Constitution. “Support for the amendment has remained consistently high throughout Civitas’ five years of polling,” according to a Civitas press release, “with support for a constitutional marriage amendment at never less than 70 percent.”

The poll’s results show a slight decrease since 2009 in support for a marriage protection amendment among likely voters. In a March 2009 poll commissioned by the North Carolina Family Policy Council, 73 percent of voters supported the amendment. In an earlier Civitas poll (February 2009), 76 percent supported the amendment.

“Still, the percentage of North Carolina voters who support enshrining the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman in the State’s Constitution—safely away from the hands of activist judges and legislatures—remains undeniably high,” said Bill Brooks, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “And, yet, the leadership of the General Assembly continues to take it upon themselves to deny the citizens of North Carolina even the opportunity to vote on this question. It is time for North Carolina to shed its unfortunate distinction as the lone southern state to deny its citizens the opportunity to vote on a marriage amendment to their Constitution. The General Assembly should pass the Defense of Marriage when it reconvenes in May, and respect the citizens’ right to vote.”