Hot button ballot issues back in election

By Ed Stoddard

DALLAS (Reuters) - When Americans cast ballots on November 4 to elect a president, some states also will ask voters hot-button questions like whether or not to ban gay marriage.

Such "ballot initiatives" -- proposed amendments to state constitutions or legislation -- have become a staple of U.S. elections and have played a role in recent presidential races.

Two that have qualified for November's ballot stand out: one to ban gay marriage in the presidential battleground state of Florida -- where votes for Republican and Democratic candidates have been closely split in recent elections -- and another in Colorado to roll back affirmative-action policies aimed at helping minorities overcome discrimination.

Initiatives to ban gay marriage played a role in President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election as they propelled the Republican Party's conservative Christian base to the polls.

They may not have the same impact this time, as Republican John McCain is viewed by many religious conservatives as soft on core issues like gay marriage and stem cell research.

"I have a hard time envisioning social conservatives who want to ban gay marriage in Florida getting excited about John McCain at the polls," said Daniel Smith, a professor of political science at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

"McCain doesn't have the credibility on the issue that Bush had and so people who come out to vote on it may not vote for McCain," he said.

Still, such issues can energize activists on both sides of America's cultural divide, which often reflects the partisan one between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats.

Evangelical Protestants, who account for one in four American adults, are especially keen to prohibit gay marriage, which they as a threat to the traditional family.

To pass, the proposed Florida measure will require the support of at least 60 percent of those who cast ballots.

"Our strategy involves recruiting and training hundreds of volunteers to speak person to person with voters about the real harms that these measures cause to lesbian, gay and transgendered families," said Dan Hawes, a director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington.

BRUISING BATTLE

The amendment's supporters, who have coalesced around a group called florida4marriage.org, are also gearing up.

"I think it's going to be a very close race," said John Stemberger, the group's chairman.

He said he also saw the issue as bipartisan but most analysts see such battles as distinctly partisan.