The move by the Massachusetts Family Institute and its supporters was the next step in their quest to overturn the 2003 court ruling that made Massachusetts the only state with gay marriage. The initiative also seeks to ban same-sex civil unions.

Of the more than 170,000 signatures, 147,000 were certified by local election clerks. Backers of the initiative needed only 65,825 certified signatures to qualify for the ballot.

"What does that tell us?" Kris Mineau, president of the Family Institute, said at a rally on Beacon Hill. "That the people of Massachusetts have not only spoken, they have shouted. And what are they shouting? `Let the people vote.'" ...