澳大利亚最高法院驳回对同性婚姻投票的挑战

Australia's High Court has rejected two separate legal challenges to the government's voluntary postal vote that could give lawmakers the go-ahead to legalize same-sex marriage.

The court did not issue any written opinions Thursday explaining why it decided to reject the challenges after two days of hearings.

Gay rights advocates went to the Melbourne-based court seeking to scrap the plan, arguing that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government does not have the authority to spend $97 million on a postal vote. They also expressed fears the vote could bring harm to Australia's gay, lesbian and transgender community, and have demanded lawmakers go on the record with a simple "yes" or "no" vote.

The High Court's decision means the government can go ahead and begin mailing the ballots next week, with the results to be announced in November. If a majority of "yes" ballots are returned, lawmakers would follow through with a vote on the measure the following month.

澳大利亚联邦最高法院驳回了两项对政府进行同性婚姻自愿邮寄公民投票的法律挑战。

澳大利亚最高法院星期四没有发表书面陈述，说明经过两天听证后为什么决定驳回挑战。

同性恋权益倡导者前往位于墨尔本的最高法院，希望取消邮寄投票的计划。他们表示，特恩布尔政府无权划拨9700万美元用于邮寄投票。他们还表示，担心投票会给澳大利亚的男女同性恋和跨性别者群体带来伤害，并要求议员直接记名投票，表示支持还是反对。

澳大利亚联邦最高法院的决定意味着政府可以从下周开始寄出选票，清点结果11月公布。如果投票支持者占多数的话，议员们将于12月就同性婚姻合法化议案进行投票。