CNN has projected that Wisconsin will become the 23rd state to protect marriage, with 59 percent voting for Referendum 1, with 23 percent of precincts reporting.
That result confounded some Ref. 1 opponents, who made an 11th-hour pitch to confuse the issue by calling voters with a misleading message about the measure, said Julaine Appling, president of Vote Yes for Marriage.
"We had a major issue yesterday and today with our opponents sending out 250,000 phone calls that used our language on their calls, making it sound like a no vote," she said. "But it made people angry to think that they could be duped like that and that people would lie. But I'm very encouraged -- Wisconsin people are smart. They see through the lies and they read the amendment and they know how to vote."