New Hampshire same-sex marriage goes into effect tonight at 12:01am and, unlike Maine, it will be almost impossible to overturn. The New Hampshire constitution does not provide for the referendum process used in Maine to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law. Amending the New Hampshire's constitution is extremely difficult. A 3/5 vote of each house of the General Court (state legislature) is required to send a proposed constitutional amendment to the people at the next biennial November election. A 2/3 vote of the qualified voters participating in an election is required to adopt a new amendment. The only other possibility is a constitutional convention which would need 3/5 of the delegates to send a proposed amendment to the voters which would also take 2/3 to pass. Both of these are extremely remote possibilities because, bottom line, at least 1/3 of New Hampshire's voters support same-sex marriage and everyone knows it. So, this is one battle which will not be fought. Of course, some die-hard homophobes are still trying to amend the New Hampshire constitution but they will not get far. In most other states it is much easier to overturn a court decision or a law passed by the legislature so New Hampshire represents a very limited strategy for success.
California and other states have been criticized for making constitutional amendments far too easy to pass. Generally, only a majority of the legislature and a majority of voters. In California's case, a well financed petition drive to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot and a majority of voters. An amendment to our federal constitution takes 2/3 of the House of Representatives and 2/3 of the Senate and then 3/4 of the states to approve. Constitutions are supposed to be the bedrock of our laws and should not be easily amended to satisfy popular whim. Clearly, the system of most states needs an overhaul. Unfortunately, that is a very tall order, indeed.
In the meantime:
Welcome to New Hampshire & Happy New Year.
Comments
New Hampshire's Constitution is an infringement upon my civil rights as an out-of-stater to force my beliefs on other people.
I love Maine and California, however - all it took was a bare majority to make my dreams of world domination come true in those states. Viva la tyranny!!!!
The NH law was passed by the NH legislature and is not the result of a court decision. It therefore requires a 50%+1 majority in the legislature to the repeal the bill (2/3 to override a veto). The GOP currently has 74% of the NH House of Representatives seats and 79% of the NH Senate seats.
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