Hours before the polls closed Tuesday, campaigners for Proposition 8 were informed that many Latino voters supporting traditional families were misreading the ballot and accidentally voting against the proposition.
"The way they worded it - it's a double negative and so voters get confused," said Tim Butler, zip-code manager for the Yes on 8 campaign. Equality for All volunteer Mahesh Mehta did not think the wording affected polls. However, in one instance an opponent for the proposition accidentally urged voters to vote "yes" at a public rally in San Francisco.
This issue was brought up in July as well. The title proposed for Proposition 8 was "Limit on Marriage." What voters saw on the ballot on Tuesday was, "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry," which a few voters found confusing.
Latinos and African Americans were a big vote bank for the Yes on Prop 8 campaign. Newell and two other volunteers stood outside polling stations in the Westside of Los Angeles and tried to clarify the language of the proposition with as many Latino voters they could find.
Proposition 8 passed on Wednesday, despite the wording on the ballot and the increased funding received by the No on 8 campaign in the last few weeks. This immediately cast a spell of doubt on the status given to around 18,000 same-sex couples that married in the past 4 months.
"Its clear that California is narrow-minded and heartless, I wouldn't be surprised even if these marriages become unconstitutional, but these couples are married in their hearts and no government can take that away," said Mehta. Melvin Brown, a student for the ban agreed. "We do not expect the status given to families in the past 4 months to be revoked. That's not we voted for," he said.
Speaking on the presidential candidates Newell said, "I thought I misunderstood when I heard Joe Biden in the vice presidential debate when he defined marriage. It doesn't really matter which candidate wins, both the vice presidential and presidential candidates support traditional marriages." Many voters who were against Proposition 8 disagreed with Newell and believed that Obama and Biden supported same-sex marriage. Mehta too, was surprised by Biden's comments and said, "Obama will remain the favorite."
Presidential elect Barack Obama has publicly opposed both same-sex marriage and the ban on gay marriage.
Proposition 8 is believed to be the most funded proposition on the ballot all over the nation this year, over $74 million was raised by both sides. There have also been an unprecedented number of volunteers in both camps. "Until 2 weeks ago, we were pretty much neck-to-neck in funding, but the job got a lot more challenging for us volunteers in the past few weeks," said Newell. Many volunteers left their jobs to campaign. Freelance visual effects designer Russell Lloyd, has been working on the Yes on 8 campaign for a month. "As much as I enjoyed myself, I could really do with getting back to work," he said as he drove his car towards his third polling station of the evening.
After Californians elected for Proposition 8, some chapels are expecting same-sex couples to have rushed weddings before the law comes to effect. The opponents have already filed two legal challenges and Mehta said, "more may be expected."
I followed a team of supporters of Proposition 8 on this historic election day.
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