It appears that Question 1, the referendum to overturn legislated same-sex marriage, will go down to defeat. With 80% of the vote counted, the yeas have about 52% to maintain the traditional definition of marriage.
Referendum 71, the domestic partnership initiative (everything but the word ‘marriage’), in Washington state has about 51% support as of midnight EST by running up huge margins in Seattle (King County).
In CNN’s early evening coverage, analyst Jeffrey Toobin was giddy with the idea that same-sex marriage was going to be passed voter which he said was a culture shift for all of America. But in in liberal Maine it hasn’t and in liberal Washington it is close. The battle over marriage is far from over. Because Washington’s ballot initiative was on domestic partnerships and not marriage, the pro-traditional marriage position is a perfect 31 for 31 in states in which voters have been allowed a direct say on the issue.
