Marriage amendment activists mark 100 days till election

Sunday marks 100 days until the November election. Both sides in the campaign over the marriage amendment are in high gear.

The amendment would define marriage in the state Constitution as between one man and one woman. If passed, the amendment would effectively block efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

Opponents of the amendment are reaching out to voters in a phone-bank blitz.

Kate Brickman with Minnesotans United for All Families, the largest group opposing the amendment, says the campaign is mounting an effort to reach 100,000 voters over the next three days.

"We know that our campaign depends on conversations," Brickman says. "That is the way we defeat this amendment this November is for people to talk to strangers and people in their lives about why they are voting no."

On the other side, deputy campaign manager Andy Parrish says Minnesota for Marriage is making solid progress to pass the amendment.

"You'll hear them making a lot of noise, 'Oh, 100 days out' and all of these other things," Parrish says. "You know, you don't hear us making much noise. We don't have to. We're spending our time in the communities and helping educate. And we're spending our time right now identifying them and turning them out."

Minnesota for Marriage, the largest group supporting the amendment defining marriage asbetween a man and a woman, says it has no special push to mark 100 days until the election.

The group says it's reaching thousands of people through its church-based phone banks.