The measure would have placed a constitutional ban on marriage equality on the fall ballot.

With the measure failing by two votes, the lawmaker who proposed putting the proposal on the November ballot said he will try Friday to resurrect it.

With the clock running out on this year's session, conservative lawmakers in the Arizona Senate employed a rare procedural maneuver Wednesday to force a vote on the proposal.

But the ballot measure went down by a vote of 14-to-11. Although a majority voted in approval, it needed 16 votes to pass, Arizona Capitol Times reports.

The vote was a temporary victory for Equality Arizona, a group representing the interests of the gay, lesbian and transgender community in the state.

"Today's actions (bringing the measure to a vote) were an inappropriate use of power," said Barbara McCullough-Jones, the group's executive director.  "Rather than taking care of the business of the people, political opportunists are using wedge politics to divide this state."

The failure of the measure was largely blamed on the absence of Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, who has indicated support for the amendment, but missed a planned vote a week ago and is on vacation this week, Arizona Republic reports.

Johnson said in a memo to her Republican colleagues that she would try to return Friday to vote on the measure. Republican lawmakers and conservative groups were already launching efforts to pressure her to make sure she returns, but it's not certain whether the measure will be reconsidered on Friday.

"She is the 16th vote," said Sen. Ron Gould of Lake Havasu, the amendment's prime Senate sponsor, referring to Johnson. "She needs to come back to the Legislature and vote."

Gould added: "I doubt that Sen. Johnson wants the swan song of her legislative career to be the fact that she has taken a walk on one-man, one-woman marriage."

Johnson is retiring at the end of this session.

The bill's progress through both the House and the Senate has been a lesson in odd political maneuvering and Wednesday's vote was part of that pattern.

The bill had languished in the Senate since the House approved it May 12. Senate President Tim Bee has refused to schedule the measure for a vote while budget negotiations take place, Capitol Times reports.

Gould used a rare parliamentary rule to force a vote.

Opponents argued the measure is unnecessary and called it a waste of time as the Legislature struggles to finalize a budget for the fiscal year that begins next week. Gay marriage is illegal under state law, and state courts have upheld that law.

The key for supporters of the bill is to get all of the lawmakers who support it on the floor at the same time for a vote, Capitol Times reports.

But that is proving to be extremely difficult these past few weeks. In the past month, one GOP senator died and had to be replaced, and then Johnson chose to go on vacation with the measure still pending.

The floor debate was relatively short, Capitol Times reports.

"The reason that Arizona does need a constitutional amendment is because of activist judges," said Sen. Linda Gray of Glendale.

Gray pointed to California, whose Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriage. Critics countered that the state has many more-serious matters to resolve, chief among them the budget deficit. They also said Arizona already has a law prohibiting same-sex marriage. Allen said she already voted for that law in 1996.

"We had not passed a budget yet," said Sen. Ken Cheuvront of Phoenix, an openly gay lawmaker. "Again, it tells us what you think of us."

The GOP had planned to bring the gay-marriage ban to the floor on June 18 for a vote. But Johnson was absent. Her office said she was ill that day.

Full article: Ban on same-sex marriage fails vote | Arizona Republic
Senators vote down measure to ban gay marriage | Arizona Capitol Times