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Four States To Vote On Marriage In Minnesota, the ballot question is a proposed amendment that will give Minnesotans the opportunity to join 30 other states, including North Carolina, in amending their state constitution to preserve marriage as “only a union of one man and one woman.” The text of “Proposed Amendment One,” or the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, reads: "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?" Voters in the state of Washington will be asked to approve or reject same-sex “marriage” legislation that was approved by the legislature and signed into law by the governor in February 2012. Voters will have the chance to select “approve” or “reject” on Referendum 74, which states: “The legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6239 concerning marriage for same-sex couples, modified domestic-partnership law, and religious freedom, and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill. This bill would allow same-sex couples to marry, preserve domestic partnerships only for seniors, and preserve the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform, recognize, or accommodate any marriage ceremony.” Similarly, voters in Maryland will also be asked to approve or reject a same-sex “marriage” law enacted by lawmakers in February 2012. Traditional marriage supporters in the state gathered more than 200,000 signatures to put the law on the November 6 ballot for the people to decide, rather than politicians. Question 6 (in part) asks Maryland voters whether they are “for” or “against” the February 2012 legislation that “Establishes that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain a civil marriage license, provided they are not otherwise prohibited from marrying…” Finally, Maine voters will get a second chance to vote on the issue of same-sex “marriage,” after previously voting in 2009 by a 53 percent margin (see our previous story on Maine) to repeal a marriage redefinition law enacted by the legislature. What makes Maine’s initiative even more unique is that for the first time ever, homosexual activists and their allies in the state managed to gather enough signatures to put the issue back before the people of Maine this November in the form of a ballot initiative, Question 1, which asks: "Do you want to allow the state of Maine to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples?" According to the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), Question 1 in Maine is significant because it “is the first time a state's voters have been directly asked to legalize same-sex marriage, rather than prohibit it.” The NCSL notes about the wording of Question 1 in Maine that, “No state's voters have been asked this question in quite this way before.” “Once again, the issue of marriage is front and center in the upcoming General Election, especially in these four states where marriage-related questions are on the ballot, and it highlights the importance of exercising our responsibility to vote,” said Bill Brooks, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “We are optimistic that voters in Minnesota will join North Carolinians in approving a Marriage Protection Amendment, and that the citizens of Maryland and Washington state will soundly reject the marriage redefinition laws enacted by their legislatures. Additionally, we hope that the citizens of Maine will once again say no to marriage redefinition in their state.” Related resources: Copyright © 2012. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.
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