Early exit polls show Maine heading towards a repeal of a state law that would have allowed same-sex marriage.
The Legislature passed the law in May, but the election offered voters the chance to repeal the measure.
With more than 84 percent of precincts reporting early Tuesday, voters seeking to repeal the law claimed 53 percent of the vote.
In Washington state, early election results showed that voters were approving the state’s “everything but marriage” law, which gives registered domestic partners additional state-granted rights currently given only to married couples.
Early election returns showed Washington’s referendum on same-sex marriage passing 51 percent to 49 percent. Last month, the Supreme Court upheld an order preventing Washington State from releasing the names of more than 120,000 people who signed petitions seeking the voter referendum. Protect Marriage Washington feared that releasing the names would result in harassment.
Social change may come for individual cities as well. In Houston, a lesbian candidate for mayor will head into a run-off with a plurality of the vote. A gay man was elected mayor of Chapel Hill, while Detroit elected a gay City Council president.
