Poll: North Carolinians reject anti-gay marriage amendment

A poll released by Elon University on Friday shows a majority of North Carolinians oppose a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The measure will be on the ballot in May. The poll also found a majority of residents in the state support equal rights for same-sex couples.

According to the poll, 56 percent of North Carolinians oppose the constitutional amendment with 39 percent supporting it. Those numbers are virtually unchanged from an identical survey conducted in February, but show an increase in opposition from 2009 when only 50 percent opposed the amendment.

The results also mirror a poll done by Public Policy Polling in early September that showed 55 percent opposed the amendment and 30 percent supported it.

Only a third of respondents in the Elon poll opposed legal recognition of same-sex couples.

Twenty-nine percent favored civil unions or domestic partnerships — which the amendment could ban — and 33 percent supported full marriage rights for same-sex couples.

All told, 61 percent supported equal rights for same-sex couples as long as it’s not called marriage.

“The ballot referendum that would ban same sex marriage will be the issue to watch this year,” Mileah Kromer, assistant director of the Elon University Poll, said in a statement on Friday. “With North Carolinians so divided on this issue, expect a tough battle over the next few months as both sides attempt to sway public opinion in their favor”