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Calif. pro-marriage group calls for end to voter suppression

Written by Chronicle Staff Report

Sunday, 22 June 2008

(San Diego) - ProtectMarriage, the lead sponsors of the California Marriage Amendment, announced on Friday that opponents of the marriage amendment have filed suit asking the California Supreme Court to remove the measure from the November ballot. Opponents of the California Marriage Amendment argue that the initiative is a "revision" of the state Constitution, which would require involvement of the Legislature, rather than simply an amendment, which can be approved by a majority
vote in an election.

"We ask major California and national gay rights leaders to repudiate this desperate effort to stifle the ordinary civil rights of the 1.1 million Californians who signed petitions to get this amendment on the ballot," said Brian Brown, Executive Director of the National Organization for Marriage-California (www.NOMCalifornia.org which, worked with ProtectMarriage to help raise approximately $1 million and gathered signatures for the petition drive this spring.

"This move to suppress the vote confirms gay marriage advocates understand they will lose in a fair and free vote this November" noted Maggie Gallagher, the National Organization for Marriage President, "The widely-quoted Field poll is a complete outlier; numerous polls show that only a third of Californians prefer same-sex marriage to civil unions (already the law in California)."

* The Los Angeles Times poll showed voters supported a marriage amendment 54 percent to 35 percent.

* The Field poll, taken just one day later, showed exactly the opposite: registered voters opposed the amendment 54% to 40%.

* However, a SurveyUSA poll released June 9th found the marriage amendment ahead 44 percent to 38 percent with a whopping 18 percent undecided.

"Gay marriage advocates say they want their rights. Will they respect the civil rights of the 1.1 million Californians who signed marriage petitions to get this before the voters this November?" asked Brown.

NOM-California, a project of the National Organization for Marriage, is a California ballot imitative committee with offices in San Diego and Santa Ana.