A Public Policy Polling poll [PDF] released on Friday showed once again the constitutional amendment that would ban equal marriage in Minnesota will be extraordinarily close. The bad news is that the poll currently shows the amendment ahead. There’s a lot of good news, too, though.

Q2. Should the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?

• Yes: 48% 
• No: 44% 
• Not sure: 8% 

The amendment, while ahead, is within the margin of error. It also currently doesn’t have the 50 percent it would need to pass. All constitutional amendments must receive 50 percent of all votes cast, so not voting is the equivalent of a “no” vote. As I’ve written before, I believe the amendment will only lose support, not gain it, and undecideds will break heavily against the amendment.

There’s more good news, too. Minnesotans overwhelmingly support legal recognition of same-sex unions. When asked about civil unions as well as marriage, a whopping 71 percent support some form of legal union. I’d be quite surprised if at least some of the folks who support civil unions couldn’t be brought to support equal marriage.

Q3. Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship?

• Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry: 37%
• Gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry: 34% 
• There should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship: 27%
• Not sure: 2%

There’s a lot of work to do, and it’s ultimately going to be close. But Minnesota stands a great chance of rejecting the anti-marriage amendment.