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The Catholic Dioceses of North Carolina have contributed $100,000 to the effort to put a ban on gay marriage and civil unions in the state constitution. And now the Raleigh Diocese has sent a mailer titled "Why Traditional Marriage Matters" that is prompting a complaint to the N.C. State Board of Elections.

Carol Love, the former executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, a liberal-advocacy group, questions whether the group filed the proper campaign paperwork for the mailer and filed a complaint.  A staffer at the elections board told her the no records reflected the political expenditure. "My complaint is that the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh does not seem to be adhering to all state, and possibly federal, election and lobby laws, including reporting requirements, and request that the Board of Elections investigate this matter," Love wrote. See a copy of the mailer below.

The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer will host a live chat on the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and civil unions with two of the state's religious leaders.

David Hains, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and Robin Tanner, a pastor at Piedmont Unitarian-Universalist Church will answer reader questions and discuss the amendment. Join the debate at 10:30 a.m. by clicking here.

The New York Times editorialized against the constitutional marriage amendment in North Carolina this morning calling it "gratuitous bigotry."

"North Carolina already has a law barring same-sex marriage, but the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature is not satisfied. It devised a measure to enshrine this obvious discrimination in the State Constitution and placed it on the ballot of the state’s May 8 primary election — a test of tolerance versus bigotry that ought to be watched closely nationwide." Read the editorial here.

The constitutional amendment on marriage appears poised to pass, but a new poll shows support slipping two weeks before the May 8 primary.

The Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday shows 54 percent of primary voters support making marriage between one man and one woman the only legal union recognized in North Carolina -- a four-percentage-point drop from a month ago.

The Washington Post's Amy Gardner takes a look at the main issue President Barack Obama will overlook when he returns to North Carolina Tuesday -- and no, it's not the scandal at the state Democratic Party. It's the consitutional amendment defining the legal recognition of marriage.

Obama previously issued a statement opposing the amendment. But Gardner, a former N&O political reporter, notes his campaign's hands-off approach to the May 8 ballot initiative. (Read more below.)

A new Elon poll of all North Carolinians -- not just likely voters -- shows attitudes shifting ever so slightly on the issue of marriage rights or legal recognition for same-sex couples.