About 50 towns voted at town meeting on same-sex marriage. Voters nowhere approved marriage for gay and lesbian couples, but 11 towns out of 49 voted in favor of domestic partnerships. The aggregate vote total on the issue was about 15,000 opposed to benefits for same-sex couples and about 10,000 in favor. Some opponents have vowed to take revenge against representatives who disregard the vote of the people by voting to support civil unions. It is by no means clear, however, that the margin of difference is so vast that defeat of anyone based on this issue is assured.
Politicians frequently face criticism because they pay attention only to the polls.
Those who do so are accused of being followers rather than leaders. A sort of poll has now been taken on the issue of same-sex marriage. Moreover, the ballot questions faced by voters on Town Meeting Day were not the best reflection of the realities to be faced by the House members. Voters were asked whether they favored same-sex marriage or domestic partnerships. In addition, most of those who voted on Town Meeting Day were probably not aware that the bill before the House contains a paragraph stating that marriage exists only between a man and a woman.