BOSTON (AP) – Supporters and opponents of an anti-same-sex marriage ballot question designed to roll back the state’s historic court ruling allowing same-sex marriage are trading accusations of dirty tricks.

Opponents say signature gathers are using “bait and switch” tactics to dupe voters into signing the question, while supporters say gay activists are stealing blank petitions, defacing others to invalidate signatures, and shoving and spitting on signature gatherers.

The dueling allegations were made at a crowded Statehouse hearing.

The hearing included 10 voters, each of whom said signature gatherers tried to trick them into signing the petition opposing same-sex marriage.

In each case, the voters said they were asked to sign a ballot question about the sale of wine in grocery stores and were then told to sign a second sheet of paper without being told it was the anti-same-sex marriage amendment. In some cases they said they were told the second sheet was a “back-up” sheet for the wine question.

“She said ‘could you sign the back-up copy?’ She completely made it clear that it was for beer and wine,” said Somerville resident Victoria Ellis. “I was really disgusted by the tactic.”

Angela McElroy, a Florida college student who worked as a paid signature gatherer, said her boss taught her how to deceive voters by arranging both petitions on her clip board so she could ask voters to sign twice, but they would only see the language for the wine question.

“Mark trained me personally in bait-and- switch tactics…. The fraud was looked upon as a game,” she said. “I felt horrible for lying to so many people.”

Mark Jacoby is a subcontractor working for California-based Arno Political Consultants. Jacoby twice declined to comment.

Arno Political Consultants were hired by supporters of the ballot question, which would define marriage as the union of a man and woman, to help collect signatures. The company’s president, Michael Arno, said he’d never heard of the alleged bait-and-switch tactics. He said Jacoby denied the allegations.

Arno said the signature gatherers were the true victims.

“We’ve been pushed. We’ve been shoved. We’ve been spit on. We’ve been asked to leave when we weren’t doing anything,” he said.

Arno’s firm was hired by activists opposed to same-sex marriage, including Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.

Mineau said he has also been the target of intimidation. He said he’s received threatening e-mails and had gay magazines sent to his house. He held up sheets of signatures which he said were defaced.

“That’s 67 citizens whose rights have been violated.”

Mineau said he didn’t condone signature gatherers trying to trick voters, but also said voters have to take some responsibility.

“I wouldn’t sign anything I hadn’t read,” he said.

The attorney general conducted spot checks of some signature gatherers and found no discrepancies, Mineau said. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office declined comment.

Supporters of same-sex marriage said while individual opponents may occasionally go too far, there is no concerted campaign against signature gatherers.

“Is there an orchestrated effort to harass and intimidate by MassEquality? Absolutely not,” said Marc Solomon, political director for the pro-same-sex marriage group MassEquality. “But it’s not someone’s constitutional right to use paid signature gatherers to dupe people.”

Supporters of the question must gather at least 65,825 signatures from voters before Dec. 7. The question must then be approved by at least one-quarter – or 50 – of 200 lawmakers in two separate sessions of the Legislature.

The question would then head to the 2008 ballot, where it must garner the support of a majority of voters.

Massachusetts is the only state to allow same-sex marriage.