Group extends deadline for gay marriage petitions
Group extends deadline for gay marriage petitions
By REBECCA O'HALLORAN
Copyright by The STATE CAPITOL BUREAU
Published Friday, April 21, 2006
An organization has given itself two more weeks to gather enough signatures to ask Illinois voters in November if the state's Constitution should prohibit gay marriage.
In what some are calling a political move to motivate Republican voters, the Illinois Family Institute wants a statewide advisory referendum to determine if voters think the Constitution should be amended to define marriage as being legal only if it is between a man and a woman.
In order for the question to be on the ballot, the group must gather 283,111 signatures, which is 8 percent of the number of people who voted for governor in the last election.
"We are very, very close to the minimum number right now, with thousands coming in every day," said David E. Smith, the project director for Protect Marriage Illinois, an initiative of the IFI.
Smith said he received 10,000 signatures Thursday alone.
The group has set a goal of collecting 500,000 signatures. Smith said moving the deadline from April 20 to April 30 will allow additional churches to hold petition drives. More than 2,000 churches have been involved so far.
"That's nice, but the fact is there's 15,000 churches in Illinois," Smith said. "Some churches are just getting the word now."
The State Board of Elections must receive the petitions by May 8, six months before the general election, in order for the question to be placed on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The last time an advisory referendum made it on a statewide ballot was in 1978, according to the State Board of Elections. It had to do with limiting property taxes.
An advisory referendum would not alter the Constitution but merely make legislators aware of how many voters would support such an amendment.
In 1996, Gov. Jim Edgar signed a law that recognizes marriage as being only between a man and a woman. Smith, however, is afraid the Illinois Supreme Court may at some point rule the law unconstitutional.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court decided in 2003 that a state law there prohibiting same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
Some people say the Illinois Family Institute's initiative has an ulterior motive in an election year.
"The bottom line is they are just attempting to build a right-wing voter base in the state of Illinois, which traditionally has been moderate," said Rick Garcia, director of public policy for Equality Illinois, a gay rights group that opposes constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.
Garcia said Republican governors in the past 20 years have all been moderate.
"(Right-wing Republicans) gave us Alan Keyes, they gave us Jim Ryan, and they gave us Jim Oberweis. Loser, loser, loser," Garcia said. "Three strikes and you're out."
According to a 2005 Equality Illinois poll of 600 registered voters, 38 percent supported gay marriage and 49 percent were opposed.
It also showed that 67 percent opposed amending the Illinois Constitution to ban gay marriage.
"We stand by those numbers, because those numbers have been reflected in other polls nationally," Garcia said. "Opposition to the amendment ran across every region of the state, every age group and (Republicans, Democrats and Independents)."
"They will always question the results of our polling," Garcia said of the amendment's proponents. "We challenge them... Let's have a joint poll and ask the voters of Illinois what they think about tampering with our Constitution."
The Illinois Family Institute said an advisory referendum in November will be an official poll, "and there won't be a margin of error," Smith said.
Rebecca O'Halloran can be reached at 544-2819 or rebecca.ohalloran@sj-r.com.
By REBECCA O'HALLORAN
Copyright by The STATE CAPITOL BUREAU
Published Friday, April 21, 2006
An organization has given itself two more weeks to gather enough signatures to ask Illinois voters in November if the state's Constitution should prohibit gay marriage.
In what some are calling a political move to motivate Republican voters, the Illinois Family Institute wants a statewide advisory referendum to determine if voters think the Constitution should be amended to define marriage as being legal only if it is between a man and a woman.
In order for the question to be on the ballot, the group must gather 283,111 signatures, which is 8 percent of the number of people who voted for governor in the last election.
"We are very, very close to the minimum number right now, with thousands coming in every day," said David E. Smith, the project director for Protect Marriage Illinois, an initiative of the IFI.
Smith said he received 10,000 signatures Thursday alone.
The group has set a goal of collecting 500,000 signatures. Smith said moving the deadline from April 20 to April 30 will allow additional churches to hold petition drives. More than 2,000 churches have been involved so far.
"That's nice, but the fact is there's 15,000 churches in Illinois," Smith said. "Some churches are just getting the word now."
The State Board of Elections must receive the petitions by May 8, six months before the general election, in order for the question to be placed on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The last time an advisory referendum made it on a statewide ballot was in 1978, according to the State Board of Elections. It had to do with limiting property taxes.
An advisory referendum would not alter the Constitution but merely make legislators aware of how many voters would support such an amendment.
In 1996, Gov. Jim Edgar signed a law that recognizes marriage as being only between a man and a woman. Smith, however, is afraid the Illinois Supreme Court may at some point rule the law unconstitutional.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court decided in 2003 that a state law there prohibiting same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
Some people say the Illinois Family Institute's initiative has an ulterior motive in an election year.
"The bottom line is they are just attempting to build a right-wing voter base in the state of Illinois, which traditionally has been moderate," said Rick Garcia, director of public policy for Equality Illinois, a gay rights group that opposes constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.
Garcia said Republican governors in the past 20 years have all been moderate.
"(Right-wing Republicans) gave us Alan Keyes, they gave us Jim Ryan, and they gave us Jim Oberweis. Loser, loser, loser," Garcia said. "Three strikes and you're out."
According to a 2005 Equality Illinois poll of 600 registered voters, 38 percent supported gay marriage and 49 percent were opposed.
It also showed that 67 percent opposed amending the Illinois Constitution to ban gay marriage.
"We stand by those numbers, because those numbers have been reflected in other polls nationally," Garcia said. "Opposition to the amendment ran across every region of the state, every age group and (Republicans, Democrats and Independents)."
"They will always question the results of our polling," Garcia said of the amendment's proponents. "We challenge them... Let's have a joint poll and ask the voters of Illinois what they think about tampering with our Constitution."
The Illinois Family Institute said an advisory referendum in November will be an official poll, "and there won't be a margin of error," Smith said.
Rebecca O'Halloran can be reached at 544-2819 or rebecca.ohalloran@sj-r.com.
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