Large Early Turnout As Irish Voters Decide Gay Marriage Initiative
Irish voters streamed to the polls Friday to cast ballots in a referendum on whether to change the country's constitution to allow lesbian and gay couples to marry.
Nineteen other countries, including Spain, France and Denmark, have legalized gay marriage, but Ireland could become the first nation to allow it through a referendum.
In the last two weeks, 68,000 new voters registered, and the "yes" side was hoping for a major turnout of younger voters to back the initiative. More than 3.2 million Irish voters have 15 hours to cast their ballots, with results expected on Saturday.
According to RTE, the country’s public broadcaster, voters lined up at 7 a.m. outside several polling stations in Dublin and Galway. Officials reported heavier than usual turnout at some stations, including large numbers of young voters. The turnout was considerably lower in more rural ares of South Kerry and South Donegal.
The referendum calls for adding a sentence to the Irish Constitution stating: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.” Approval of the change would complete a remarkable reversal in attitude in a country where homosexuality was illegal until 1993. Same-sex couples have been able to enter into civil partnerships since 2011 in Ireland, but many activists contend that partnerships do not provide the same legal protections and rights as marriage.
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http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-ireland-gay-same-sex-marriage-vote-20150522-story.html
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