Poll finds 57% of Ohioans support gay marriage ban

A poll released Friday shows that a majority of likely Ohio voters favor a constitutional ban on gay marriages, although support for the November 2 ballot issue has fallen since an earlier survey. The Ohio Poll, sponsored by the University of Cincinnati and conducted by its Institute for Policy Research, found that 57% of likely Ohio voters support the amendment, which would make marriage between one man and one woman the only valid union under the Ohio constitution. Forty percent said they intended to vote against the amendment, and 2% were undecided, the poll found. The telephone poll was conducted among 757 likely voters picked at random statewide between October 11 and October 17. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. An Ohio Poll released in August found that 56% of likely voters supported the ban, while a September survey found that 65% supported it. State government leaders are divided on the issue. Gov. Bob Taft, U.S. senators Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, and Atty. Gen. Jim Petro oppose the ban. State auditor Betty Montgomery, treasurer Joe Deters, and secretary of state Kenneth Blackwell support it. All the officeholders are Republicans.