A proposed constitutional amendment in
Minnesota which would define marriage as a heterosexual union is
losing support just 12 days before voters head to the polls.
A St. Cloud State University Survey
released Thursday found 51 percent of likely voters opposed to the
amendment and 44 percent in support.
It is the latest poll to show opponents
of marriage equality losing, and the first to be conducted since
supporters of the amendment unleashed a barrage of radio and
television ads calling on voters to support the amendment.
The Star Tribune Minnesota Poll
of likely voters released in September found 49 percent support for
the ban and 47 percent against. That marks a 2 percent drop in support from a
poll conducted in August.
A further decline was recorded in a
Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released earlier this month. That
poll of 937 likely Minnesota voters found support had deteriorated to
46 percent, while 49 percent of respondents said they were opposed.
The latest poll is the first to show a
narrow majority opposed to the ban. The Minnesota
Post praised the
St. Cloud poll for using “gold-standard methodologies.”
In reporting its findings, Star
Tribune political editor Patricia Lopez noted that the
amendment needs a majority to pass.
“There's an interesting wrinkle in
Minnesota's law. It says that you have to have 50 percent of all the
ballots cast in the election. So, not just people voting on this
amendment, but people voting on everything in November. And that
means that if they come up with 49 percent on election day, they'll
still lose,” Lopez
said.