MADISON, Wis. (AP) – One would ban a practice that has never happened in Wisconsin. The other could help bring back a practice that has been banned for 153 years.

Wisconsin voters will decide two hot-button issues in statewide referendums Nov. 7: whether to rewrite the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, and whether to ask lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty.

The marriage amendment would have the more immediate, and critics say far-reaching, impact by adding two sentences to the constitution. The death penalty measure will be advisory only, and lawmakers and the governor would still have to approve legislation if it passes.

Both contests could make history: Critics are trying to make Wisconsin the first state to defeat a same-sex marriage ban; Death penalty supporters are trying to get rid of the state’s 1853 ban, the longest in the nation.

Polls show both measures are favored by a slim majority of the public but observers say both votes could be close, particularly because opponents have mounted major campaigns.

“But I’d be surprised if that superior mobilization could override the simple direction of public opinion, which is pro-death penalty and anti-gay marriage,” said John McAdams, a political science professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee. “I think both [will] win but with less of a margin than they have won in other states.”

Gay rights activists believe the state is their best chance of defeating a marriage ban, which has been passed in all 20 states where it’s faced voters.

Marriage is defined in Wisconsin under current law as the union of a husband and a wife and no same-sex marriages have ever been allowed in the state. Supporters say an activist judge could change that with one ruling without an amendment in place.

Well aware of the stakes, conservative Christian groups such as Focus on the Family and gay rights organizations like Human Rights Campaign have poured resources into the state to try to turn out their voters.

The opposition to the amendment has tried to shift the debate to the second sentence, which bans the state from giving the same legal status as marriage to other types of relationships. The sentence was aimed at barring Vermont-style civil unions in which same-sex couples are granted marriage benefits.

But critics have warned this sentence could go further, jeopardizing a range of domestic partner benefits for all non-married couples – gay or straight. Supporters have called such claims scare tactics, but legal scholars say courts and lawmakers would have to sort out what benefits could be offered to same-sex couples if it passes.

The debate about the death penalty has been more low-key, partly because the measure was not placed on the ballot by lawmakers until May.

The question asks voters whether they support capital punishment in cases of first-degree intentional homicide backed by DNA evidence. Senate President Alan Lasee, R-De Pere, said the referendum is aimed at getting the public’s input and potentially building momentum for his longtime effort to reinstate the death penalty.

Critics such as Sacchin Chheda, campaign director for No Death Penalty Wisconsin, call the question misleading because DNA evidence is only available in less than half of homicide cases. As a result, lawmakers would be likely to allow juries to impose the penalty in more cases, he argues.

“A one-sentence description can’t possibly describe the complexities and the cost of actually implementing a death penalty,” said Chheda, who leads the coalition of churches, prosecutors and civil rights groups. “We do have a concern that it’s an easy question to say yes to, but it’s a really hard consequence for the people of Wisconsin.”