LOS ANGELES — The outcome of a measure to ban same-sex marriage was too close to call in early returns Tuesday night, leaving voters on both sides in suspense about the most divisive and emotionally fraught contest in the state this year.
Proposition 8 would amend the California Constitution to define marriage as between only a man and a woman. Early returns and exit poll data suggested an extremely close race, with Democrats and independents tending to vote against the measure and Republicans in favor.
With 53 percent of precincts reporting, 53 percent had voted in favor of the ban.
Proposition 8 was the most expensive proposition on any ballot in the nation this year, with more than $74 million spent by both sides.
The measures most fervent proponents thought that nothing less than the future of traditional families was at stake, while opponents thought that they were fighting for the fundamental right of gay people to be treated equally under the law.
In San Francisco, supporters of same-sex marriage packed into a ballroom at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Tuesday night.
“You decided to live your life out loud. You fell in love, and you said ‘I do.’ Tonight, we await a verdict,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, speaking to a crowd. “I’m crossing my fingers.”
In Mission Viejo, Galyn Ritzema, 59, braved a cold rain to be the first in line at her polling place Tuesday morning to vote for Proposition 8.
“It is extremely important that we uphold moral guiding values,” said Ritzema, an adult education teacher at Rancho Santiago Community College. “Marriage is between a man and a woman.”
The battle was closely watched across the U.S. because California is considered a harbinger of cultural change and because this is the first time voters have voted on same-sex marriage in a state where it was allowed. Campaign contributions came from every state in the nation in opposition to the measure and every state but Vermont to its supporters.
Eight years ago, 61 percent of Californians voted to define marriage as being only between a man and a woman. The California Supreme Court overturned that measure in a May 15 decision on the grounds that the state constitution required equal treatment of same-sex couples.
