Another way of looking at referendum results

I saw an anonymous posting on a newspaper blog today that really struck home.  The writer urged us to take a closer look at the Maine referendum results.  I don't believe that anyone's civil rights should be determined by majority rule, but even if you do believe such referenda are appropriate, majorities are not voting to strip away same-sex marriage rights.  The writer on the blog argues that since 42% of eligible voters did not vote in Maine, then the breakdown of the total vote would look like this: 31% voted to strip away rights; 27% voted to keep them; 42% didn't care enough to go to the polls.  What that means is that 69% of the electorate either supported same-sex marriage or really didn't care.  That figure gives a vastly different impression of the true feelings of the state.

I decided to do some calculating of the Prop 8 vote in California.  The result reported in the media gave the measure to eliminate same-sex marriages was 52%-48%.  But even with 79% of the population voting, the combined total of those who supported same-sex marriage or didn't care was a 41% opposing same sex marriage; 38% supporting, and 21% with no strong opinion.  The result with these stats?  41% opposed same-sex marriage while 59% supported or had no opinion.  Yes, I know that some folks with strong feeling simply couldn't get to the polls, but that was certainly a minority.  What these new figures show is that even by the standards of majority rule, these ballot measures failed.  And it seems to me that if a minority of the electorate (a mere 31% in Maine and a higher but still far less than a majority of 41% in California) have actively voted against same-sex marriage, then maybe we should all reconsider how we view these results.