RALEIGH, NC – Voters in North Carolina overwhelmingly rejected marriage equality on Tuesday, with 61 percent voting in favor of Amendment One, which enshrines the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman in the Tar Heel State’s constitution, making it the 30th state in the nation and the last in the South to add such a definition to its governing document. Exit polling data shows that voters split largely along generational demographics, with younger members of the electorate opposing Amendment One.

According to the State Board of Elections, approximately 500,000 people cast ballots in early voting— primary record for the state. The victory by a margin of more than 20 points came after acrimonious weeks of campaigning by opponents and supporters of the measure, and millions of dollars spent to win the hearts and minds of the electorate.

“We are not anti-gay—e are promarriage,” said Tami Fitzgerald, the chairwoman of Vote for Marriage NC, at a victory rally in Raleigh. “And the point, the whole point is simply that you don’t rewrite the nature of God’s design for marriage based on the demands of a group of adults.”

Marriage equality supporters raised record amounts of donation money to fight the amendment, which reads “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

Opponents of Amendment One warned that along with denying the legality of all types of same-sex unions, the measure could also affect over 150,000 heterosexual couples who cohabitate but aren’t married, invalidating domestic violence regulations, child visitation and custody arrangements, and hospital access.