“People’s Veto” Closer to Reality in Maine     8/21/2009
By Rebekah Ries

Traditional marriage supporters in Maine are one step closer to overturning the state’s newly-minted homosexual marriage law. On July 31, supporters turned in over 100,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s election division — nearly twice as many as the required 55,087. Although the signatures must now be officially certified by the Secretary of State, supporters believe they have more than enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the November ballot. Official certification should be completed by the end of August.

“I would like to congratulate the many volunteers who worked so hard gathering signatures,” Concerned Women for America (CWA) of Maine State Director Charla Bansley says. “But remember, the petitions are just the first step.”

Maine has a unique “people’s veto” law that allows any law passed by the legislature to be challenged in a statewide vote. Immediately following the passage of Maine’s homosexual “marriage” law, CWA of Maine and its traditional marriage allies began collecting petitions to contest the new law under a people’s veto. Once the petition makes it on the ballot, it takes only a simple majority of voters to overturn the law.

The next step for marriage supporters will be educating the voters of Maine. In the few short months between now and November, marriage supporters will be using grassroots strategies to inform, educate, and encourage citizens to uphold traditional marriage in their state. Maine voters have rejected homosexual rights laws by a people’s veto before, and marriage supporters believe they will also reject this new law.

“The campaign leading up to the November election will be huge, and we’ll need a lot of help,” Charla says. “If you haven’t registered to volunteer at Stand for Marriage Maine, please do it today. Together we will protect marriage in Maine!” Charla also plans to speak at a Stand for Marriage rally at the Augusta Civic Center on September 13 and hopes hundreds of concerned citizens will turn out to show their support. Several other state and national leaders have also been invited to speak at the rally.

Whichever way Maine voters go, the nation will be watching. Homosexual marriage is currently legal in three states — Connecticut, Iowa, and Massachusetts — because of state Supreme Court rulings. Three more states — New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine — have legalized homosexual marriage through legislative action. Although voters in other states have overturned court rulings in the past, a failure in Maine would mark the first time state voters said “yes” to homosexual “marriage.”

For more information on the people’s veto effort, please visit the Stand for Marriage website.

For general information or to get involved in CWA of Maine, go to Maine.cwfa.org or e-mail director@maine.cwfa.org. If you would like to get involved with one of our other fine state organizations, please visit the CWA in the States site.

Previous articles on this topic:

Defending Traditional Marriage in Maine
Maine’s Battle for Marriage

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