Two State Marriage Amendments One Step Away from Voters
Proposed constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage came one step closer voters in South Dakota and Virginia; with one final approval, the amendments will be placed on the 2006 ballot
A proposed constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage won final approval by both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly, bringing the critical amendment one step closer to the state’s voters, Saturday.
The House of Delegates vote 79-17 and the Senate voted 30-10 to pass the final version of the amendment; the measure would have to be approved again by the Legislature next year and ratified by voters in the 2006 general election to become part of the state’s constitution.
Meanwhile, the South Dakota senate state affairs committee approved a measure on a similar amendment with a 5-4 vote on Friday, sending it to the full senate.
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According to the Associated Press, the amendment is now “just one vote away from the 2006 ballot.”
Both Virginia and South Dakota have laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman only. However, many legislators feel a constitutional amendment must be passed in order to make the law tamperproof since only voters – not activist judges – can change the constitution.
The measure in South Dakota reads, “Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in South Dakota.”
To date, seventeen states have adopted constitutional gay-marriage bans; eleven of them ratified the measures in the elections last fall.
Massachusetts is the only state with legalized gay marriages.
