More California voters say they would
oppose a November ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage in the
state's constitution than would support it, according to a survey
released Friday.
The Field Poll found that 51 percent of likely voters say they
would vote against Proposition 8, while 42 percent say they would
vote for it.
The poll shows a turnaround from 2000, when 61 percent of voters
cast ballots in favor Proposition 22, which strengthened the
state's 1978 one-man, one-woman marriage law with the words "Only
marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in
California."
That vote came a year after the state Legislature enacted the
first of a series of laws awarding spousal rights to domestic
partners.
This year's ballot initiative comes on the heels of a landmark
California Supreme Court decision in May that granted marriage
rights to same-sex couples.
Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples have flooded county clerk's
offices throughout the state to receive marriage licenses since the
ruling took effect in June.
The poll found that Democrats and Republican voters were starkly
divided on the issue. Sixty-three percent of Democrats said they
would vote against the measure, while 68 percent of Republicans
said they would vote for it. Nonpartisans were against the
initiative 66 percent to 27 percent.
The poll found the greatest opposition to the ballot measure
among voters living in California's coastal counties and large
cities, as well as among voters younger than 30. In the San
Francisco Bay area, 67 percent of voters oppose Proposition 8,
while only 26 percent approve.
The Field Poll surveyed 672 likely California voters during the
week of July 8-14. It had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.9
percentage points.
The results also matched up to a Field Poll in May that asked
Californians if they supported the Supreme Court's legalization of
gay marriage. That poll, which had a sampling error of plus or
minus 3.2 percentage points, showed that 51 percent said they
supported it, and 42 percent opposed it.
