Gay marriage put to vote in Maine referendum
Photo credit: AP | Supporters of same-sex marriage Suzanne Blackburn, left, and Ann DiMella, of Portland, prepare to set up a NO on 1 sign. (November 3, 2009)
Photos: Elections in New Jersey, Virginia, & Maine
Gay marriage was put to a vote in Maine Tuesday in a closely watched referendum that gay-rights activists across the country hoped would prove for the first time that their cause can prevail at the ballot box.
Voters had to decide whether to repeal or affirm a state law that would allow gay couples to wed. With 148 of 608 precincts reporting, each side had 50 percent of the votes.
A vote to uphold the law would mark the first time that the electorate in any state endorsed gay marriage.
However, repeal - in New England, the region of the country most supportive of gay couples - would be another heartbreaking defeat for the marriage-equality movement, following the vote against gay marriage in California a year ago.
In New York, with 50 percent of the vote counted, state residents were voting 2-1 in favor of having inmates do volunteer work for nonprofit groups. Voters by a 2-1 margin also were approving a minor land swap in a remote area of the northwestern Adirondacks.
There were three propositions on Long Island ballots.
In early returns from Southampton, voters were leaning toward approving a town law that would mandate that a special election be held to fill any vacancy in an elected office.
In early returns from Riverhead, voters were inclined not to transfer the job of public safety dispatcher to Suffolk County. The vote to change the term of the superintendent of highways from the current two years to four years was too close to call by deadline.
