Hourly Update

Poll: Marriage amendment supported by most Arizonans

PHOENIX (AP) - Most Arizonans would support a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, according to a new poll. About 57 percent of Arizonans would back an initiative defining marriage as a union between a man and woman, says a poll of 600 residents commissioned by The Arizona Republic. Only 37 percent said they would vote against it, while 6 percent were undecided. The poll did not ask respondents whether they would support such a measure if it denied benefits to same-sex partners. Another poll conducted last month found that a majority of respondents would oppose an amendment that denied public benefits to unmarried domestic partners - an issue that is expected to be key in the debate about the initiative. Arizona already has a law that prohibits gay marriages, but the Arizona Constitution doesn't explicitly ban them. To get the measure on the November 2006 ballot, proponents need at least 183,000 valid signatures by July. The poll was conducted Oct. 6-9 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.