Signatures keep pouring in!

The Maryland Marriage Alliance announced today that it plans to submit an additional 39, 743 signatures to the Maryland State Board of Elections as part of efforts to add a referendum on the state’s same sex marriage law to the November ballot.

The addition brings the total of signatures supporting the referendum to 162, 224.The Maryland Marriage Alliance submitted more than 122, 000 signatures to Maryland’s Secretary of State May 29, more than double the nearly 57, 000 signatures required to add a referendum.

One-third of the required signatures were due by the end of May. All signatures were due by June 30.

A partner of the Maryland Marriage Alliance, the Maryland Catholic Conference called the outcome “a phenomenal response.” The MCC worked with Catholic parishes and organizations, including the Knights of Columbus, to collect signatures through parish-based petition drives.

The MCC trained volunteers to ensure collected signatures were valid and would withstand the strict scrutiny expected from the Board of Elections. According to the MCC, the Board of Elections has already validated more than 109,000 signatures.

“The everyday people of Maryland have shown unprecedented support in this petition process, and we will carry that enthusiasm forward to the November elections with thoughtfulness and compassion,” the MCC executive director Mary Ellen Russell said in a June 25 statement.

“We are Democrats, Independents and Republicans, spanning generations from every corner of the state, and represent many faiths and no faith,” she said. -- The Catholic Review

Find out what you can do to help out in the next stage at www.MarylandMarriageAlliance.com.