Gay Marriage Among Looming Ballot Issues

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Gay Marriage Among Looming Ballot Issues

Thursday March 30, 2006 9:46 AM


By DONNA CASSATA

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The divisive issues that spurred voter turnout in 2004 and helped decide the presidency will be back with a vengeance in November.

This time, they could shift the balance of power in the Senate, an outcome with broad implications for the remaining two years of President Bush's term, and could affect governor's races in states certain to comprise the presidential battleground landscape in 2008.

Ballot initiatives that would define marriage, raise the minimum wage, ban affirmative action hiring and endorse embryonic stem-cell research are among the measures that have been gaining the necessary signatures to earn a spot on the Nov. 7 ballot in several states.

Initiatives stating that life begins at conception, limiting the growth of government spending and promoting renewable energy sources also could end up on the ballot on Election Day.

Such issues could bring more voters out in states such as Missouri, Ohio and Montana, where the results of competitive Senate races could determine whether Republicans keep majority control or Democrats break the GOP lock on Congress


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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5721136,00.html