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(Washington) New polls in Virginia and
Arizona are giving encouraging signs to LGBT rights groups. In Arizona a poll
shows 56 percent of voters opposed to a proposed amendment to the state
constitution that would ban same-sex marriage, while a Virginia poll shows that
while a proposed amendment could still pass the gap has narrowed to a ten point
spread.
The Arizona poll was conducted by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism
at Arizona State University for KAET television. While 56 percent of likely
voters now oppose the amendment, 14 percent of those surveyed are undecided.
The survey was taken between October 19 and 22
and shows opposition has grown and the number of undecideds has dropped from a
similar poll a month earlier.
“ASU’s
recent polling results reaffirm that Arizona voters do not want to take away health care families,” said State
Representative Kyrsten Sinema, committee chair for Arizona Together, the
organization fighting the amendment.
“This
survey also proves that Arizonans are no longer buying into the bogus belief
that Prop. 107 is a gay-marriage ban. However, with 14 percent of voters still
undecided and only two weeks until Election Day, it is evident that we need to
continue our already aggressive education efforts to make certain we reach each
and every voter.”
The statewide poll, of 1,019 registered voters
included 40 percent who said they were Republican, 34 percent Democrat and 26 percent
libertarians or independents. Forty-eight percent of voters interviewed were
male and 52 percent were female.
Meanwhile, a new poll in Virginia shows that the
number of people supporting a proposed amendment that would bar gays from
marrying or having civil unions and could be used to nullify domestic partner
benefits is slipping.
Fifty-two percent said they will vote for the amendment - down from 54 percent in
a similar poll taken a month ago.
Forty-two percent said they would vote against
the amendment. That is up from 40 percent
in the last poll. Six percent of those surveyed had not made up their minds.
With the margin of error, LGBT advocates say, it
is still possible the amendment will be defeated on election day. That
means they will be targeting those voters who have not made up their minds.
The sweeping extent of the proposed amendment has
generated opposition from business groups and lawyers.
On Tuesday Gov. Tim Kaine became the 200th lawyer
in the state to sign a declaration against the measure. (story)
Kaine said he still believes marriage should be
restricted to opposite-sex couples but that the proposed amendment goes far
beyond that. He pointed to sections of the amendment that opponents say would
void legal agreements between unmarried couples - both same and opposite-sex -
that cover everything from mortgage contracts to child custody arrangements to
powers of attorney.
©365Gay.com 2006
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