4 states OK bans on gay 'marriage'; four others likely

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Voters were opposing same-sex "marriage" yesterday in all eight states where the issue was on the ballot, while voters in South Dakota rejected a state abortion law.

In Virginia, with 64 percent of precincts reporting, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban homosexual "marriage" and to define marriage as an institution involving one man and one woman was leading 57 percent to 43 percent.

In South Carolina, with 7 percent of precincts reporting, 46,184 voters, or 72 percent, supported the ban on homosexual "marriage." Twenty-eight percent, or 17,664, opposed the ban.

In Tennessee, only 1 percent of precincts reported results on the same-sex "marriage" question shortly after 9 p.m. But 197,523 voters -- 83 percent -- voted yes for a ban. Another 39,476 voters, or 17 percent, voted no.

Five other states -- Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, South Dakota and Wisconsin -- had similar constitutional amendments on their ballots that were passing last night.

Luis Vizcaino, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest political organization for homosexuals, said bans on same-sex "marriage" won by overwhelming majorities in 2004, but he does not foresee that trend in this election.

"We feel there has been a significant shift either in the political climate or the public perception of same-sex 'marriage' " during the past two years, he said in an interview last night.

In yesterday's election, Colorado also had a rival measure on its ballot, calling for the legal recognition of "domestic partnerships" between people of the same sex, even if the measure banning same-sex "marriage" passed. The question calling for legal domestic partnerships would give homosexual couples the same legal rights as married couples. The passage of that measure was too close to call last night.

In South Dakota, voters opposed the retention of a state ban on all abortions except those needed to save a mother's life. Also in the state, a measure that would make judges liable for imprisonment and financial punishment because of decisions they make failed 90 percent to 10 percent.

In Missouri, with 6 percent of precincts reporting, a ballot measure that would allow embryonic stem-cell research in that state was trailing, 52 percent to 48 percent, shortly before 10 p.m. last night.