Gay rights veto

Waldo 9.5%

Aroostook 9.4%

Penobscot 8.3%

Washington 7.6%

Oxford 7.2%

Piscataquis 6.8%

Hancock 6.2%

Androscoggin 6.2%

Franklin 6%

Kennebec 5.7%

Knox 5.4%

Lincoln 5%

Somerset 5%

Sagadahoc 4%

York 3%

Cumberland 2.6%

(The percentage of registered voters by county signing the petition to put a gay rights veto on the November ballot.)

Waldo County led the state in terms of the percentage of registered voters who signed a petition to overturn the gay rights bill just passed by the Legislature, with support for the civil rights measure picking up steam as you head down the Midcoast and into southern Maine.

The key, both sides of the gay rights debate agree, will be getting their supporters out on Election Day when the law will be voted up or down on a statewide ballot.

Based on an analysis of the petition signatures certified by the Secretary of State last month, the state’s two most populated counties – Cumberland and York – had the fewest number of registered voters asking the law be overturned, followed by Sagadahoc, Lincoln and Knox on the coast.

Waldo County had the most at 9.4 percent, followed by Aroostook, Penobscot and Washington counties in the north and Oxford in the west.

The petition drive was massive, with only about 57 communities, including 24 plantations, not represented in the final number, which totaled more than 56,000 certified signatures. Law requires that signatures equal to 10 percent of the vote in the last gubernatorial election – just above 50,000 – be gathered to initiate a ballot veto.

“We did well in rural counties and it was tougher in southern counties,” said Michael Heath, director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, which organized the petition drive. Heath said based on the signatures collected, “there’s no different answer to the north-south, big or rural question,” in terms of how the vote will go in November as compared to years past.

Jesse Connolly, the campaign manager for Maine Won’t Discriminate, which is going door-to-door to rally support for the law, said his group won’t rely on its strength in southern Maine.

“We’re going to run a statewide campaign. We’re not ceding any geography anywhere in the state. We’re going to be active in as many different communities as we can. We’re not going to give up an inch to our opponents.”

The state’s most populated cities didn’t produce the most signatures, with some exceptions. Lewiston had 2070; Augusta, 1406; Bangor, 1201; Auburn, 878; Portland 598; and, South Portland 299.

The law being challenged would make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation in credit, employment, housing and public accommodations by adding that protection to the Maine Human Rights Act.

The Legislature passed such a law in 1997, but the Christian Civic League gathered enough signatures then to put it on the ballot and the law was overturned 145,452 to 138,153. The Legislature put the law back out to voters in 2000 – a presidential election year – but it was defeated 318,846 to 314,012.

The key this November, Heath said, will be getting voters to the polls.

“There’s nobody on this ballot. No legislators, no governor, no senate race. There’s no candidates,” Heath said, just bond and ballot questions.

Heath said his organization is “still digging out” from the cost of gathering the petitions, having spent all of the nearly $100,00 it raised. The group is now meeting to plan a fall campaign strategy and is continuing to raise money.

“We know that getting out our vote is going to be very important in November,” he said.

Connolly said Maine Won’t Discriminate kicked off a door-to-door campaign on July 23.

While his organization still had about $30,000 in the bank as of last month’s campaign finance reporting deadline, “fundraising is something we’ll never stop until November 9,” he said. The group initially raised $83,000.