2012 Maine Question 1

Background

In 2009, same-sex marriage legalization, "An Act To End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom", was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor John Baldacci. A 2009 people's veto referendum to reject the law passed 53 to 47 percent, invalidating the law before it took effect.

On June 30, 2011, EqualityMaine and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) announced plans to place a voter initiative in support of same-sex marriage on Maine's November 2012 ballot. Supporters delivered more than 105,000 petition signatures for the initiative to the Secretary of State's office on January 26, 2012, exceeding the minimum of 57,277 signatures requirement. The Secretary of State announced on February 23 that the office verified 85,216 signatures, qualifying the initiative for the November 2012 ballot.

Under Maine's constitution, a valid initiative must be sent to the voters unless enacted in the proposed form by the Legislature at the same session during which it was presented. In March 2012, the Maine Legislature voted to indefinitely postpone the initiative without debate, effectively putting it on the November ballot.

Ballot question

On June 14, 2012, Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers, who opposed same-sex marriage, released the draft wording of the question as it would appear on the ballot, beginning a 30-day public comment period, at the end of which he had ten days to determine the wording of the question. He proposed the following wording:

The petitions that supporters circulated was as follows:

Opponents of the initiative claimed that the latter part of the circulated question is unnecessary, as the religious freedom to refuse to perform same-sex marriages is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. They also criticized the wording for failing to mention redefining marriage. Supporters of the initiative said the Secretary of State's proposed wording "fails to address important parts of the initiative that will be on the ballot in November". Though they concede the First Amendment point made by the measure's opponents, they asked Summers, whose good faith they did not question, to restore the reference to protecting religious freedom because they claim opponents "distort the what the approval of same-sex marriage will do, including the possibility that churches would lose their tax-exempt status by refusing to perform same-sex marriages."

The final wording Summers chose is "Do you want to allow the State of Maine to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples?" Representatives of both sides of the issue stated they had no major problems with Summers' decision.

Campaign

EqualityMaine and Mainers United for Marriage began the campaign for the initiative on May 15, 2012.

By June 28, Mainers United for Marriage had raised more than $1 million, with 64 percent of contributions coming from within Maine.

On July 23, the Maine ACLU and Mainers United for Marriage held a press conference to announce the formation of the group Republicans United for Marriage as part of an effort to attract more Republican support of the initiative. Fifteen Republicans appeared at the conference, including three current state legislators. One of those, Rep. Stacey Fitts of Pittsfield, had voted against the 2009 same-sex marriage law passed by the previous Legislature but stated that he has now changed his mind after discussions with gay persons that he knows and his family. Fitts also said he felt his new views were a "perfect match" with his Republican philosophy of small government. Pastor Bob Emerich, a spokesman for initiative opponents, dismissed the announcement as "insignificant" and questioned "why these people even call themselves Republicans."

President Barack Obama, through a spokesperson, endorsed the initiative on October 24.

On October 25, Richard Malone, former Catholic Bishop of Portland, stated that supporting the initiative was "unfaithful to Catholic doctrine" and that Catholics whose conscience was formed through scripture could not justify voting for any candidate or referendum that opposes the teachings of the Church. He said that Catholics for Marriage Equality did not speak for the Catholic Church.

Democratic U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud both stated they intended to vote in favor of the referendum, while Republican U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe both stated that their policy was to not comment on state level issues. Governor Paul LePage, through his spokeswoman, also declined to offer his views on the referendum. Collins and Snowe would both state their support for same-sex marriage after the referendum.

The referendum was declared passed on November 6, 2012 by the Associated Press, and opposition group Protect Marriage Maine conceded defeat at 1:30 am on November 7, 2012. 53% of Maine voted in favor.

Polling

Many opinion polls were done to estimate the results of the referendum. Polling were as follows.

Results

52.6% of voters voted to legalize same-sex marriage while 47.4% of voters voted not to which resulted in Maine legalizing same-sex marriage.

Aftermath

Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrated the passage of the referendum. After the referendum Matt McTighe, campaign manager of Mainers United for Marriage, stated that "A lot of families in Maine just became more stable and secure." Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, stated that "Americans remain strongly in favor of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The election results reflect the political and funding advantages our opponents enjoyed in these very liberal states." The law officially took effect on December 29, 2012.

References

References

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