R.I. Voters Say Gay Marriage Not Factor in Elections
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - By a narrow margin, more Rhode Islanders support marriage equality for gays and lesbians than oppose it. The vast majority of those under 40 favor gay marriages. And most don’t believe the issue is important in deciding who they vote for.
Those are among the results of a poll conducted for Marriage Equality Rhode Island, the organization lobbying for passage of an equal marriage bill pending in the General Assembly, by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a nationally known opinion research firm.
According to the survey, 45 percent of Rhode Island voters would allow gays and lesbians to marry. Also reporting that 39 percent oppose making such marriages legal, the poll was conducted April 6-9 among 500 people who indicated they are likely to vote in the November general election.
Because the poll had a margin of error of 4.4 percent, the results are a virtual dead heat.
A close look at the statistics shows there’s good news for those lobbying for equal marriage. Poll results among younger voters show an unmistakable demographic trend in favor of same-sex weddings--67 percent of those under 40 support them.
A quarter of those surveyed said they consider support for marriage equality important in deciding who to vote for and 22 percent indicated they are much less likely to vote for a candidate who supports such a bill. MERI argues that the fact that 44 percent reported that the issue makes no difference in their decision to support a candidate is significant.
Rhode Island voters, the pollsters say, face a number of tough issues and challenges, but equal marriage rights apparently isn’t one of them.
When those polled were asked what issues the state government should address, same-sex marriage ranked next to last, with just 5 percent of the respondents saying it is the most important, well behind health care (41 percent), education (40 percent), taxes (33 percent) and the economy (27 percent).
And those surveyed ranked gay marriage the least important issue to consider when deciding which General Assembly candidates to vote for. Just 21 percent said they consider marriage equality a determining factor, while 73 percent chose reforming health care, 70 percent public education and 62 percent reducing government spending.
MERI released the polling results at a Statehouse news conference April 11. In a statement distributed to news media, MERI Co-Chair Jenn Steinfeld said the lobbying organization commissioned the poll because it believes it is important for elected officials and the general public "to have a clearer sense of the true thoughts and opinions of likely voters about this issue."
The polling data show that Rhode Islanders "are generally fair-minded and have a live-and-let-live mentality towards their neighbors," Steinfeld continued.
"The data also show that access to equal marriage rights, while often used as a political wedge, is not very important to voters who have many other priorities and concerns that they take with them into the voting booths," Steinfeld added. "While access to the rights and responsibilities that come with marriage are critical to same-sex couples, the issue of marriage makes little difference to the average voter."
Steinfeld told EDGE that MERI’s reaction to the poll results was positive. "Our experience seems to be backed up by these data so we’re really pleased that we have really hard numbers about how Rhode Islanders feel about marriage equality," she said.
Asked whether she’s disappointed that support for equal marriage is about even with those saying they are against it, Steinfeld replied, "I’d like to see more Rhode Islanders in support, but I think the fact that 44 percent say that it is not an issue in voting is really important."
The MERI co-chair added that the survey corrects one false impression: "We’ve been hearing from legislators that there’s a silent majority of their constituents that are against marriage equality. I think the poll results show that isn’t true. There’s no cost to them in doing what they know is the right thing."
Advocates have vowed to maintain a presence at the Statehouse until the House Judiciary Committee votes to pass the marriage equality bill to the floor for debate and a vote by the full House membership. Saying the legislators are "playing games" by not acting on the measure, supporters were in the rotunda as late as 9 p.m. April 11 passing the time playing board games.
