What Lead To North Carolina Marriage Amendment Vote Essay

What Lead To North Carolina Marriage Amendment Vote - Essay Example The culmination of this initiative was the North Carolina voters approving the proposed amendment by 61.05%, on May 8th, 2012. Like any other amendment, there are other anteceding factors that had orchestrated the North Carolina Marriage Amendment vote into realization, as shall be seen forthwith. One of the factors that led to the North Carolina Marriage Amendment (NCMA) vote was the fact that the law is dynamic and thus, subject to amendment. Because of its dynamic nature, the law is always debated in the state legislature. Amendments may be made to the law, if any need arises, and if the bill calling for the amendments garners enough support. In this case, the law on marriage was debated during the spring of 2011 legislative schedule in the state legislature. At this juncture, the bill calling for the amendments had failed to receive enough votes needed to qualify for the referendum. This was to be followed by a debate on the same, in September 2011. The very day the bill was introduced in the House, the state legislature voted 75 against 42, in favor of the proposed amendment, and to the effect that a statewide ballot should be carried out. Similar results were produced in the State Senate on September 13th, 2011. It is important to note that this NCMA vote is also known as North Carolina Marriage Amendment One. The voting for Amendment One came about as a result of a legislative precedence that North Carolina had set previously. In 1875, North Carolina had altered its charter to proscribe all marital unions between a Negro and a white person, and between a person of Negro descent, down to the third generation and any white person.