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This article has been defeated in over 1/3 of the towns so far. News reports have been largely ignoring the towns that defeat it by "skipping over" the question. They also are ignoring the more than a dozen towns that defeated it in the deliberative sessions. My own town of Brookline voted about 3-1 to skip over this article last night.
Also, with the notable exception of the Union Leader's recent article, most have not pointed out that an actual constitutional amendment requires a 2/3 super majority. Very few of these towns have passed it by that margin.
What votes they do have are inflated by wording that encourages supporters of marriage equality to vote for the article and the fact that the larger, more liberal, cities are not voting on it, only the smaller, more conservative towns.
Even if you just look at the towns that had warrant articles, had this been an actual constitutional amendment vote, it would be going down in flames.
And equally wise words from Rep. Jim Splaine:
State Rep. Jim Splaine, D-Portsmouth, said the wording of the resolution was vague, turnout was small, and most town voters had budgets and spending on their minds.
"This was really raw politics by those, mostly conservative Republicans, who want to dictate their agenda on the state," Splaine said.
..."It's not the New Hampshire way to take away rights from people," Splaine said.
Oh, and what about New Hampshire's tradition of freedom and tolerance? Here's a graf from a NH Freedom to Marry release:
Here is a list of towns that rejected the resolution. This list does not include the 88 towns and 13 cities that refused to take the issue up; Alstead, Andover, Barrington, Bethlehem, Boscawen, Bow, Bradford, Brookfield, Chesterfield, Deerfield, Easton, Franconia, Gilsum, Goffstown, Groveton, Hebron, Hudson, Kensington, Lee, Lincoln, Lisbon, Lyman, Monroe, Meredith, Newbury, Nelson, New Hampton, New London, Plymouth, Rindge, Rye, Sugar Hill, Winchester, Wolfeboro, Washington.
Let us know more details from your towns as they come in.
The bottom line is: if this were an actual vote on a binding constitutional amendment, it would have been hugely unsuccessful. But let's be clear on what this really is - the first effort from the state GOP to scare up social issue voters for November. Being bankrupt of ideas, and peddling the same economic policies that brought us to the brink when they were in charge, they've got to GOTV somehow.
