Wednesday, June 29, 2005

A Big Maybe in Maine

The anti-gay-rights groups in Maine hoping to overturn the state's new equality provisions think they might have enough valid signatures to do this a third time. They need 50,519 valid voter signatures on petitions. They turned in over 57,000, which the state has a month to verify.

The Christian Civic League of Maine and its spin-off Maine Grassroots Coalition collected 12,000 in the final day. Normally in the petition process that is a sign of cutting corners and fudging qualifications or outright faking petitions.

For a different perspective Susan Madore, whose hubby Paul runs the Grassroots show said the surge was "a miracle" and "a gift from God." Her side best be praying that their version of God paid attention to the qualifications as well as the quantity.

So the question is whether one in seven of the signatures is a duplicate, from a non-voter or otherwise invalid. If they don't get the minimum, the gay-rights wording stays. If they have enough, the question of whether to overturn the anti-discrimination wording goes to voters in November. That's slightly likely to fail, as voter polls show Maine has lost its taste for hate.

Anyone wondering why these reactionaries are against adding sexual orientation as a basis for discrimination in Maine law can ask Paul Madore. "(T)his opens a door, without a doubt, to same-sex marriage."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I stumbled upon this old post from a few years back. I just have to remind you that if my memory serves me right, the signatures were valid and more than enough in quantity.

So, I searched for an apology, but couldn't find one. Why would that be?

massmarrier said...

I think I understand your recent comment on a nearly three-year-old post. You think that if current events reporting changes in a post after the fact, that the blogger could and should not only update, but apologize for reporting accurately at the time.

Good luck with that. That was accurate and the time. The campaign continued on both sides. The anti-gay-rights folks lost their butts at the ballot.