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Gin, guns, genes, gays, ganja
03/11/2004 08:13 - (SA)
Los Angeles - As Americans went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a president, they also decided a raft of referenda ranging from whether to legalise pot to regulating how their drinks are served.
Residents of Alaska voted on whether they wanted to become the first US state to fully legalise marijuana, while South Carolinians were weighing the lofty matter of whether to allow barmen to serve their cocktails out of large bottles instead of airline-style mini-bottles.
In Maine, the decision on whether residents want to ban hunters tempting bears with food was too close to call, while voters in Colorado defeated a constitutional amendment that could have changed the outcome of the super-tight presidential election.
The dizzying array of decisions were among a plethora of 163 referenda and ballot initiatives that were up for a vote in 34 states in Tuesday's general election.
Gay marriage
But the most far-reaching and most divisive local ballot measure across the United States this election was one aimed at outlawing gay marriage in 11 states, which appeared to have been largely successful.
"It's passing by very comfortable margins in eight of the 11 states so far, mainly with a margin of more than 70%," National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) policy analyst Jennie Drage Bowser told AFP.
Early returns showed that referenda on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman were approved in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Only the western states of Oregon, Montana and Utah remained to be decided at around 7:30 pm Pacific time (0330 GMT).
'Lost battle; winning the war'
"We have lost a battle but the process has begun of winning the war," said David Buckel, director of the marriage project at gay rights lobby group Lambda Legal, which vigorously opposed the amendments.
"Most of these states already had their legislatures write discrimination into the statutes, and now they have enshrined it in their constitutions," he told reporters.
But Buckel vowed that US gay activists would not give up on their battle for legal rights and equality, saying the rash of moves to pass constitutional bans on gay marriage were a sign that gay family rights were taking root.
"When ever any minority starts to get closer toward having all their rights, the fight by opponents intensifies," he said.
Californians, who were turning out in record numbers, were meanwhile weighing whether to allow three billion dollars of state money to be set aside for controversial embryonic stem cell research.
If the measure passes, which polls indicate it is likely to do, California would become the first state in the nation to allow official funds to be used for the research that was severely restricted by President George W Bush in 2001.
- AFP
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