A new survey released by Public Policy Polling (D) shows waning support for the proposed marriage amendment in North Carolina ahead of the upcoming statewide vote on May 8.
The poll of likely voters shows 54 percent of respondents intend to vote for the amendment, while 40 percent are opposed. That’s still robust support, to be sure, but it’s also the lowest level of support that PPP has found for the amendment since it began polling last October.
The amendment is not simply a ban on gay marriage, as is widely believed. Rather, the amendment would provide legal recognition only for marriage between a man and a woman, effectively outlawing both gay marriage and civil unions. PPP has consistently found that as voters become more familiar with the far-reaching implications of the amendment, they grow less receptive to the proposal.
“Passage of the marriage amendment is looking like less and less of a sure thing,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “The more voters learn about it the less inclined they are to support it.”
