ATLANTA (AP) – A judge has struck down Georgia’s ban on same-sex marriages, saying the measure that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2004 had violated the state constitution’s single-subject rule for ballot questions.

“Procedural safeguards such as the single-subject rule rarely enjoy popular support,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russell wrote in her ruling. “But, ultimately it is those safeguards that preserve our liberties, because they ensure that the actions of government are constrained by the rule of law.”

Activists had long awaited Russell’s ruling in their court challenge, which was originally filed in November 2004, soon after the constitutional ban was approved in that year’s general election.

Gov. Sonny Perdue said he was disappointed by the decision, which he said ran contrary to the voice of Georgia voters in defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. He said the state is considering its options, which include appealing the decision directly to the Georgia Supreme Court.

In her ruling, Russell said before the state’s voters can be asked to decide whether same-sex marriages should be banned, they must first decide whether same-sex relationships should have any legal status before the law.

“People who believe marriages between men and women should have a unique and privileged place in our society may also believe that same-sex relationships should have some place – although not marriage,” she wrote. “The single-subject rule protects the right of those people to hold both views and reflect both judgments by their vote.”

If Georgia lawmakers want to continue to press the issue, they’ll need to come up with a different ballot amendment comprising of two separate questions, said Beth Littrell, associate legal director of Georgia’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter, which also was a participant in the court challenge.

One question would have to deal with recognition of marriage as between a man and a woman and the other to address legal recognition of same-sex relationships, Littrell said.

“Civil unions and marriages are different things and people feel differently about them,” she said. “And they need to be able to vote on them separately.”