Ritchie Sets New Marriage Amendment Ballot Title

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has abandoned a ballot title drafted by backers of the gay marriage amendment in favor of his own.

Ritchie on Thursday announced the title would be "Limiting the Status of Marriage to Opposite Sex Couples." It was approved earlier this month by Attorney General Lori Swanson, a fellow Democrat.

Republican sponsors of the amendment wanted it to be titled, "Recognition of Marriage Solely Between One Man and One Woman." Dayton vetoed the underlying bill, which didn't keep the amendment off the ballot but allowed Ritchie to draft his own title.

The question to voters remains the same: "''Shall the MinnesotaConstitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?"

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