Supporters of a
proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex
marriage in Florida must gather 27,000 more petition
signatures by February 1 to submit to the state's
election supervisors. The measure also seeks to ban
polygamy and group marriage while defining marriage as
an institution between a man and a woman.
Florida4Marriage
has taken on the cause in hopes of getting the measure
on this November's ballot, the Associated Press reports.
The group felt
confident it had already obtained the necessary 611,000
signatures needed, but two weeks ago a miscount by
Miami-Dade County election officials was uncovered
that left the group with too few signatures.
As a result,
Florida4Marriage has now declared a "constitutional
emergency." The groups is requiring all signatures be
delivered by overnight mail or in person to its
headquarters in Orlando. Under a new law, petitions
can no longer be delivered to local county supervisors of
elections by individual voters, according to a press release
by the group. Petitions can only be delivered by the
official sponsoring committee of the amendment.
(The Advocate)
