Senate: No ballot vote on gay marriage
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Union Leader: Senate Democrats killed a move yesterday to put the gay marriage question before voters next year.
By a 14-10 party-line vote, the Senate defeated a move to put a non-binding referendum on the November 2010 ballot. Democrats argued that two past state Supreme Court decisions have said the state Constitution does not allow referenda. Republicans said the issue of same-sex marriage has so divided the state that voters need to weigh in, and that their question would sidestep constitutional limitations.
Sen. Deborah Reynolds, D-Plymouth, opposed the move, saying "referenda are unconstitutional in this state." She cited two Supreme Court rulings, from 1881 and 1999, that essentially held that referenda would dilute the power of the Legislature. Reynolds said it is the job of a legislator to talk to voters and find out what they are thinking. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter, said that with 424 legislators and a population of 1.3 million people, "we are the most democratic place on this earth."
Sen. Jack Barnes, R-Raymond, said the same-sex marriage issue "has divided this state like nothing I have seen in my 19 years in the Legislature. He predicted that special interest groups will go town-by-town in attempts to convince selectmen to put a similar referendum on local ballots, which the state Constitution allows.
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