Lingle receives 34,000 comments on civil unions

Sixty percent of the 34,000 letters, phone calls, e-mails and other communications sent to Gov. Linda Lingle in recent weeks have asked her to veto a pending civil unions measure.

Lingle spokesman Russell Pang said Friday that just in the last week, about 12,000 comments arrived at the governor’s office, 86 percent of them favorable toward the legislation and 14 percent opposed.

Pang says a week ago, about 80 percent of the 22,000 communications that had been received at that point asked the governor for a veto.

Lingle has until Tuesday to sign or veto the bill, or allow it to become law without her signature.

The civil unions measure would permit same- and opposite-gender couples to establish government-recognized civil unions.