December 22, 2005
IT ALWAYS WINS WITH THE VOTERS:
Petition vs. gay marriage advances: Number of signers breaks state record (Raphael Lewis, December 22, 2005, Boston Globe)
Backers of a constitutional ban on gay marriage in Massachusetts have shattered a 20-year-old record for the most certified signatures ever gathered in support of a proposed ballot question.Posted by Orrin Judd at December 22, 2005 8:13 AMSecretary of State William F. Galvin this week certified the signatures of 123,356 registered voters, nearly twice as many as the number required to get on the ballot. [...]
The petition drew the signatures of Governor Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann; former House speaker Thomas M. Finneran, now the president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council; and former Boston mayor Raymond L. Flynn. If the petition receives the support of at least 25 percent of the Legislature in two successive sessions, it would appear on the ballot in November 2008.
Not that they ever have to, given the state's voting record, but if this is on the ballot in 2008, don't expect to see the eventual Democratic Party nominee for president coming anywhere near Massachusetts to campaign, other than for a quick-hit fundraising stop that's barred to TV cameras.
I'm sure that the Chief Justice (Anthony Lewis's wife) has already written the ruling that invalidates the initiative.
Posted by: jim hamlen at December 22, 2005 11:29 AMI eargerly look forward to the day when some Governor tells his state Supreme Court to go pound sand.
Posted by: ray at December 22, 2005 10:10 PM