www.ambiente.us JANUARY / ENERO 2008
Gay marriage ban may not make Florida ballot
By Gary Fineout
A controversial amendment that would make permanent the state's ban on gay marriage may not make this
year's ballot after state election officials discovered a mistake in numbers from Miami-Dade County.
Those seeking to put the amendment on the 2008 ballot must gather more than 611,000 signatures from
across the state by Feb. 1. Those who backed the amendment that would ban gay marriage thought they had
reached that threshold late last year.
But a new count of petition signatures ordered last week by the Department of State now shows that the
Florida Marriage Protection Amendment is short by roughly 22,000 signatures.
Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for Secretary of State Kurt Browning, said the new count revealed that
Miami-Dade's election offices had ''double-counted'' some 27,000 paper petitions that were turned in prior to
January 2006.
Lester Sola, the Miami-Dade County elections supervisor, said Monday that his office was checking into the
assertions made by the state, but he added that the state's computer system that kept track of petitions
routinely inflated the number of signatures from Miami-Dade County.
Florida already bans gay marriage in state law, but organizers are seeking the amendment to ensure the ban
is not overturned by a legal challenge. Opponents of the amendment, however, have countered that the
measure is more far-reaching and could affect civil unions and threaten benefits for same-sex employees.
John Stemberger, chairman of Florida4Marriage.org, said his group would ''immediately'' call on volunteers
across the state to crank back up their efforts to gather petition signatures.
''There's a real temptation in pointing figners, but we're interested in getting the job done,'' said Stemberger.
Copyright © Miami Herald & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing these sources.
Gay marriage ban may not make Florida ballot
By Gary Fineout
A controversial amendment that would make permanent the state's ban on gay marriage may not make this
year's ballot after state election officials discovered a mistake in numbers from Miami-Dade County.
Those seeking to put the amendment on the 2008 ballot must gather more than 611,000 signatures from
across the state by Feb. 1. Those who backed the amendment that would ban gay marriage thought they had
reached that threshold late last year.
But a new count of petition signatures ordered last week by the Department of State now shows that the
Florida Marriage Protection Amendment is short by roughly 22,000 signatures.
Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for Secretary of State Kurt Browning, said the new count revealed that
Miami-Dade's election offices had ''double-counted'' some 27,000 paper petitions that were turned in prior to
January 2006.
Lester Sola, the Miami-Dade County elections supervisor, said Monday that his office was checking into the
assertions made by the state, but he added that the state's computer system that kept track of petitions
routinely inflated the number of signatures from Miami-Dade County.
Florida already bans gay marriage in state law, but organizers are seeking the amendment to ensure the ban
is not overturned by a legal challenge. Opponents of the amendment, however, have countered that the
measure is more far-reaching and could affect civil unions and threaten benefits for same-sex employees.
John Stemberger, chairman of Florida4Marriage.org, said his group would ''immediately'' call on volunteers
across the state to crank back up their efforts to gather petition signatures.
''There's a real temptation in pointing figners, but we're interested in getting the job done,'' said Stemberger.
Copyright © Miami Herald & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing these sources.
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