Maine High Court Weighs Whether Transgender Sports Referendum Can Stay on November Ballot
A decision will determine if Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ move to invalidate more than 12,000 petition signatures stands as a separate federal lawsuit seeks to change the 2023 settlement behind that rule.
Overview
- The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments this week over an appeal by Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine asking the court to restore a citizens’ referendum that would bar transgender girls from girls’ school sports.
- Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled in May that the petition fell 532 signatures short after invalidating more than 12,000 signatures for problems that included forged or duplicate entries and circulator misconduct.
- A subset of 1,520 rejected signatures were gathered by four out-of-state circulators who did not check a required consent box tied to a 2023 federal settlement allowing nonresident circulators to follow Maine rules.
- A state judge upheld Bellows’ decision in June and Protect Girls’ Sports appealed to the state’s high court, while this week a petition circulator and three Maine voters filed a federal suit asking a judge to declare Bellows lacked authority and to revise the settlement.
- The state high court must issue a ruling by the statutory deadline early next week and its decision will determine ballot access, shape how circulator consent is enforced, and affect how disputes over transgender student policies reach voters.