Some states face votes on gay rights, abortion

NEW YORK -- Gay rights, teen abortion, Arnold Schwarzenegger's prestige. These and other volatile topics are adding spice to off-year elections in seven states where voters will be considering statewide ballot measures on Nov. 8.

As is often the case, California has the most intriguing mix of propositions -- including four backed by Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor, to curb the power of the Legislature, controlled by Democrats, and the state's public employee unions. Another measure, notable in a state with liberal leanings, would require parents to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion.

Texas voters are expected to approve a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriages -- a step taken in 18 states. In Maine, a conservative alliance is urging voters to quash a new law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In Republican-controlled Ohio, the site of bitter wrangling in the 2004 presidential election, four overhaul measures backed by Democratic-leaning groups are on the ballot. Voters will be asked whether bipartisan boards, instead of elected officials, should draw lawmakers' districts and oversee elections; whether campaign contribution limits should be lowered; and whether all voters should be allowed to vote early by mail.

Doctors and lawyers in Washington state are spending heavily to support rival measures dealing with medical malpractice. The one backed by doctors would place a cap on certain types of jury awards and limit lawyer fees.

The lawyers' proposal would create a state-run supplemental malpractice insurance program and allow doctors' licenses to be revoked after three malpractice verdicts against them within 10 years.

Other measures in Washington would ban smoking in public areas and indoor workplaces, and overturn the Legislature's gas-tax hike of 9.5 cents a gallon.

New Jersey voters will decide whether the state should have an elected lieutenant governor to take over if a sitting governor leaves office early. The measure is a response to the sex scandal that drove former governor James McGreevey from office and installed Senate President Richard Codey as acting governor even as he retained his Senate duties. New Jersey is one of eight states with no lieutenant governor.

Voters in New York are being asked to approve a $2.9 billion transportation bond and a measure that would give the Legislature, not the governor, an edge in budgeting.

In Texas, the proposed gay-marriage ban is the only high-profile statewide item on the ballot, and both sides are concerned about possible low voter turnout.

''We think the vast majority of people in Texas are with us, but that doesn't help if they don't show up," said Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Legal Institute, which backs the ban.

Gay-rights activists opposing the ban have produced television ads featuring direct appeals by same-sex couples for marriage rights.

''We are not second-class citizens, and we need the same resources and rights available to heterosexual couples to protect our families," said the Rev. Carolyn Mobley, associate pastor at Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, in one of the ads.

Massachusetts is the only state that allows such marriages.