But will they repudiate marriages executed elsewhere?
Quote of note added later:
In fact, local political leaders here had fought over the timing of amendment. Some Republicans had pressed to hold the vote in November, during the general election. Democrats, who had more competitive primary races on Tuesday, pushed to hold it now.
"The political calculus that has been made by the Bush people is that more people will turn out from the far right conservative base with this issue on the ballot," Mr. Kilbourn said. "This is all about the politics of distraction. It distracts from the economy, the job losses, the issues people care about."
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the wave of amendments around the country had come because "the American people want to protect the institution of marriage. That's what's driving this whole thing."
Indeed, Mr. Perkins said, he believed the amendments would pass in every state where they are weighed this fall.
Louisiana plans a vote on a marriage amendment on Sept. 18. In November, people in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah are expected to consider similar measures. Ballot initiatives are awaiting approval in Michigan, North Dakota and Ohio. Four states - Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska and Nevada - already passed constitutional amendments banning gay marriage before the Massachusetts ruling.
Missourians Back Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
By MONICA DAVEY
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 3 - Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the State Constitution barring gay marriage, becoming the first state to answer what has become a growing question since same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts.
With 93 percent of precincts reporting, the amendment had garnered 70 percent of the vote.
Voters in at least 9 other states - and perhaps as many as 12 - are expected to consider similar amendments this fall, so advocates on both sides of the debate were intensely watching Missouri's results, anxious about what they might say about voters elsewhere in the weeks ahead.
"What happens in Missouri will be looked at by people across the country," said Seth Kilbourn, the national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington group that worked against the proposed amendment in Missouri with more than $100,000 for television advertisements, telephone banks and polling.
