Poll Finds Gay Marriage an Important Voting Issue

Mar 01, 2004 10:35 PM EST

Findings of a new poll are calling for increased participation of Christians to let their voices of truth be heard at the pivotal moment of America’s history as the issue of gay marriage is emerging as a voting issue.

According to the poll released by the Pew Research Center Friday, the issue of gay marriage has drawn most attention from the voters comparing to other social issues such as abortion and gun control.

Four out of ten voters say they would not vote for a candidate who disagrees with them on gay marriage, even if they agree with the candidate on most other issues where as 34% say they would not support a candidate who disagrees with them on abortion and 32% expressed that opinion about a candidate's stance on gun control.

Similarly, 67% of Protestant voters strongly oppose gay marriage and 55% of them say they would not vote for a candidate who disagrees with their stance. On the other hand, within white Catholics and non-evangelical Protestants, voting decisions seem to be far less affected by opposition to gay marriage.

Based on the latest Pew Research Center national survey, it is shown that voters opposed gay marriage by more than a 2-1 margin in the poll, but when asked if they consider a constitutional amendment a top priority, they placed it 21st in a list of 22 possible choices.

Although 45 percent of the voters strongly oppose legalization of gay marriage, there is a split among the people who oppose the gay marriage in regards to amending constitution.

According to ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted Feb. 18-22, 46% support a constitutional amendment while 45% believe it should be up to each state to make its own laws regarding homosexual marriage.

The poll of 1,149 voters was taken Feb. 11-16 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.