Maine House Vote Puts Same-Sex Marriage On November Ballot

A Maine House of Representatives vote today effectively puts same-sex marriage on the November ballot, leaving the possibility of marriage for thousands of same-sex couples in Maine to the whims of voters. Fortunately, current polls show that this time, voters will indeed approve the voter initiative, and grant same-sex couples the right to marry in Maine once again. In 2009, the Maine legislature approved marriage equality for the state and the bill was signed into law, only to be defeated at the ballot before it went into effect.

“The Maine House of Representatives unanimously voted this morning to indefinitely postpone the bill, which has the effect of sending it directly to voters,” The Morning Sentinel reports:

House Speaker Robert Nutting, R-Oakland, recognized Minority Leader Emily Cain, D-Orono, to make the motion. Cain is a supporter of gay-marriage.

“Democrats believe the people of Maine must decide this question,” Cain said. “We support the effort of the thousands of Maine people who signed the petitions to put this question before voters in November.  The people of Maine should have an opportunity to cast a direct vote on this matter of fairness and equality for all families.”

The bill was sent to the Senate, which is expected to agree with the House’s action.

The action by the House avoids a public hearing and a recorded vote by lawmakers.

LGBTQ Nation adds:

According to Public Policy Polling (PPP), 54 percent of voters that same-sex marriage should be legal, while only 41 percent think it should be illegal.

…

“My guess is at the end of the day voters will see this as a straight referendum on gay marriage regardless of what the language on the ballot says — and the 54/41 number bodes well for pro-equality voters,” writes Tom Jensen for PPP.

The poll indicates that Democrats’ support for same-sex marriage has increased slightly, from 71 percent to 78 percent, and that Independents have shifted from voting against marriage equality 52-46 percent, to supporting it by a 57-36 margin.

In 2009, the New York Times’ statistician extraordinaire, Nate Silver, had predicted with a 70% probability the bill repealing same-sex marriage would be defeated. Here’s what he wrote upon learning he was wrong:

“Maine is secular, but rural. At the end of the day, it may have been too much to ask of a state to vote to approve gay marriage in an election where gay marriage itself was the headline issue on the ballot. Although the enthusiasm gap is very probably narrowing, feelings about gay marriage have traditionally been much stronger on the right than the left, and that’s what gets people up off the couch in off-year elections.”