Maine voters nix same-sex marriage

AUGUSTA, Maine, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Supporters of same-sex marriage say they'll regroup after voters in Maine repealed the state's gay marriage law.

The ballot measure to overturn the state's same-sex marriage law collected 53 percent of the vote with 87 percent of precincts reporting, the Bangor Daily News reported Wednesday.

"Question 1 (repealing the act) has passed," Frank Schubert, Stand for Marriage Maine campaign manager, announced in Portland. "It has all come together tonight and the institution of marriage has been preserved."

Supporters of Maine's gay marriage law, which never took effect after the Legislature approved the measure in the spring, vowed to press the issue while hoping for a last-minute surge as final votes and absentee ballots were counted, the Daily News said.

No on 1 campaign manager Jesse Connolly said his side "will not quit until we know where every single one of these votes lives."

"We're not short-timers. We are here for the long haul," Connolly told a crowd of the law's supporters. "Whether it's just all night and into the morning, or next week or next month or next year, we will be here. We'll be fighting. We'll be working. We will regroup."