Same-Sex Marriage Opponents in Maryland Confident

A petition effort to put Maryland’s same-sex marriage law on the November ballot is expected to meet a key deadline next week, but a lesser-known petition campaign could be struggling to the finish.

Petitioners have until May 31 to turn in 18,579 valid voter signatures — equal to one-third of the 55,736 they must submit by June 30 to the state Board of Elections to suspend a law and force it to referendum.

Organizers of the anti-gay-marriage petition say they already have more than 35,000 signatures. But a petition by many of the same organizers to throw out the state’s newly drawn congressional map will need a late push to meet next week’s deadline.

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