Maine Secretary of State Removes Transgender Sports Initiative From Ballot

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled Tuesday that more than 12,000 signatures collected for a proposed referendum were invalid, leaving the petition drive several hundred short of the 67,682 valid signatures required. The measure, sponsored by the group Protect Girls Sports in Maine, would have asked voters whether public schools should limit participation in sports and access to bathrooms according to the gender listed on a student's birth certificate.

Bellows stated that her office found the petition did not meet the constitutional threshold for valid signatures. Petitioners now have 10 days to file an appeal. Leyland Streiff, principal officer of Protect Girls Sports in Maine, said the group is continuing its defense of the ballot measure and may pursue placement on a future ballot.

At least 30 states currently maintain laws or policies that limit transgender girls' participation in girls' sports, and at least 19 states restrict bathroom access by birth-certificate gender. None of those measures originated through ballot initiatives. Opponents of the Maine proposal said the petitioners failed to follow required procedures for signature collection.