Poll shows majority California voters oppose gay marriage ban

Poll shows majority California voters oppose gay marriage banAccording to a poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, released Wednesday, though California voters remain closely divided on the question of gay marriage, a majority of them oppose a measure to ban it.

The October 22 poll shows that 52% of likely voters surveyed were opposed to Proposition 8, while 44% supported it, as against the September stats of 55% opposing and 41% favor it.

Proposition 8 was put on the ballot after the state’s Supreme Court said in May that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, paving the way for the legalization of gay marriage in California June 17 onwards.

The Court ruled that the state Constitution’s promise of equal protection affords gays and lesbians the same right to marry as heterosexual couples. The ruling overturned Proposition 22, which defined marriage as only between a man and a woman. By amending the Constitution, Proposition 8 would remove the basis for the court’s ruling.

With voters split almost evenly on the gay marriage issue, and a huge turnout expected from younger voters and independents, the election is filled with uncertainties, and polling experts say it poses special challenges for pollsters.

The president of the institute, Mark Baldassare, has predicted that the election would be a close one.

In fact, the Proposition 8 battle has emerged as the most expensive of all of this year’s ballot measure campaigns, and has aroused strong passions on both sides. As of Wednesday, ‘Yes on 8’ campaign committees had raised $26.7 million, while the ‘No on 8’ committees had brought in $26.1 million.

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