In a sad turn of events, the Minnesota Supreme court found that Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, overstepped his role by assigning a new title to both the Voter ID and marriage amendments on ballots this fall.
On June 28, Ritchie announced that he was changing the title of the mean-spirited marriage amendment to read: “Limiting the status of marriage to opposite sex couples.” He shared that this more accurately reflected the intent of the amendment.
Less than two weeks later, Minnesota for Marriage brought a lawsuit against Ritchie and others claiming that he had overstepped his legal bounds.
Fast forward to today, less than two months from when this all started, and the Supreme Court has reversed Ritchie’s decision. That means, the original title of the amendment will appear on ballots this fall: “Recognition of Marriage Solely Between One Man and One Woman.” It’s unfortunate, because the word “recognition” creates the perception that this amendment is actually a good thing. However, once you start to dig a little deeper, you quickly realize how troubling this amendment truly is.
Considering that polls already show amendment supporters have a fairly large lead, this latest setback is disappointing.