By Susan Duclos
[Update #3] North Carolina passes Amendment One, gay marriage ban.
[Update #2] With 29 out of 100 counties completely reported the vote is now 61 percent for and 38 against.
[Update] Preliminary results found here. At the moment those in favor of Amendment One is at 56 percent and against is at 43 percent.
This will be updated with final results after the tallies are in.
In 1996 North Carolina enacted a law which states that marriage between individuals of the same sex is not recognized as valid in the state.
Today, the voters in North Carolina head to the polls to vote for or against Amendment One, which is a Constitutional Amendment "to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."
Proponents of Amendment One say the difference between the 1996 law and adding this to the North Carolina Constitution itself would be protection from legal challenges. Opponents of Amendment One believe an amendment such as this could have ramifications beyond same sex marriages and potentially could effect domestic partnerships between heterosexuals as well.
If the majority of the North Carolina electorate vote in favor of Amendment One, they will be joining 30 other states that have amended their constitution on this issue. (List of states below the embed)
North Carolina Senate Bill 514 (2011) (also called Amendment 1)
Amendment One
30 states, to date, have amendments that either grant legislative authority to ban same-sex marriage, ban same-sex marriage, ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, but not other contracts, or ban same-sex marriage, civil unions and other contracts.
List of States
Amendments to grant legislative authority to ban same-sex marriage- Hawaii (1998)
Amendments that ban same-sex marriage- Alaska (1998), Arizona (2008), California (2008), Colorado (2006), Mississippi (2004), Missouri (2004), Montana (2004), Nevada (2000 and 2002), Oregon (2004) and Tennessee (2006).
Amendments that ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, but not other contracts- Alabama, Arkansas (2004), Florida (2008), Georgia (2004), Idaho (2006), Kansas (2005), Kentucky (2004), Louisiana (2004), Nebraska (2000), North Dakota (2004), Ohio (2004), Oklahoma (2004), South Carolina (2006), South Dakota (2006), Texas (2005), Utah (2004), and Wisconsin (2006).
Amendments that ban same-sex marriage, civil unions, and other contracts- Michigan (2004) and Virginia (2006).
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