A new poll released Sunday shows the
battle to constitutionally ban gay marriage in Minnesota remains a
statistical dead heat.
The Star Tribune Minnesota Poll
shows a 1 percent drop from late last month in support for the ban
among likely voters – from 49 to 48 percent. However, the number
of respondents opposed to the ban remains at 47 percent.
While support is below the 50 percent
needed to change the state constitution, the poll's 5 percent of
undecided voters could put the measure over the top.
The results differ widely from a St.
Cloud State University Survey released last week. That poll found a
narrow majority (51%) of likely voters opposed to the amendment –
the first to do so – and 44 percent in support. The Minnesota
Post praised the
St. Cloud poll for using “gold-standard methodologies.”
Frank Schubert, campaign manager for
Minnesota for Marriage, the campaign to approve the amendment,
expressed confidence in a win on November 6.
“The history of polling on this issue
shows that support for our side is always under-represented in the
polls and the position of our opponents is overstated. If that
dynamic plays itself out in Minnesota, as I expect it will, we will
have a strong win,” he
told the paper.
(Related: Frank
Schubert refuses to believe gay marriage gaining support.)