Maine’s Secretary of State Tosses Ballot Initiative Blocking Biological Males From Competing in Girls Sports

Supporters of a ballot measure requiring transgender athletes to compete on sports teams that align with their biological sex were dealt a setback after the state’s Democratic secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, declared that they did not collect enough valid signatures to put the measure to a vote in November. Twenty-seven states have passed laws preventing transgender athletes from competing on school sports teams that match their gender identity. The Supreme Court appears poised to uphold those restrictions. But Maine’s legislature and Democratic governor, Janet Mills, have blocked efforts to implement similar restrictions. A parent’s group, Protect Girls Sports in Maine, launched a push to let voters decide whether to block biological males from competing in girls sports.Ms. Bellows, who is running for governor, initially said that the group had collected 72,000 valid signatures, more than the required 67,682. But a lawsuit challenged that certification, alleging multiple duplicate signatures as well as signatures from non-Maine voters and unregistered voters and signatures with suspicious dates.On Tuesday, Ms. Bellows said that her office found that 12,542 signatures were invalid, bringing the total number of signatures for the initiative down to 67,150. “Citizen initiatives are direct democracy. Just as we take voting security seriously, we take petition integrity seriously,” Ms. Bellows said in a statement. “Unfortunately, some out-of-state circulators failed to meet certain legal requirements for petitions, resulting in this initiative failing to qualify for the ballot after legal review.”Protect Girls Sports in Maine has 10 days to appeal the ruling. In a statement, the group said, “The Protect Girls Sports in Maine Committee disagrees with the Secretary of State’s decision declaring the Protect Girls Sports initiative ineligible for the November ballot.”“The Committee is working to ensure full judicial review of the Secretary’s decision with the understanding that the courts, not the Secretary, should have the final word on this important matter,” the group added. The initiative also would have required students to use bathrooms that correspond to their biological sex. Ms. Bellows said that the petitioners would have a chance to get the initiative on the ballot for a future election if her decision stands.

Maine’s Secretary of State Tosses Ballot Initiative Blocking Biological Males From Competing in Girls Sports

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