Maine secretary of state Shenna Bellows said Tuesday that a proposed referendum on transgender athletes and students has failed to qualify for the fall ballot after more than 12,500 petition signatures were invalidated.
According to WBUR, the proposed ballot question, which was approved by Bellows after more than 71,000 valid signatures were submitted, would only allow athletes to compete on teams that match their birth sex unless a school offers a co-ed team and would require schools to maintain separate locker rooms, restrooms and showers for male and female students.
Bellows office was forced to scrutinize the petition after the validity of thousands of signatures were challenged.
The chief deputy secretary reported that at least two of the petition circulators had failed to follow the legal process for gathering signatures. As a result, the Protect Girls' Sports in Maine campaign fell 532 signatures short of the 67,682 signatures needed to appear on the November ballot.
"My job as secretary of state is to review the evidence," Bellows told reporters after announcing her decision. "We take the integrity of the petition process just as seriously as we take the security of the voting process. Everyone involved must follow the law. Unfortunately in this case, at least two out-of-state circulators failed to follow Maine law and that is why their petitions have been invalidated."
Opponents cheered the decision from the state elections officials.
“Maine has strict rules in place to protect the integrity of our elections and our system of direct democracy,” David Farmer, campaign manager for the Campaign for Free and Fair Schools, said in a statement. “The paid, out-of-state signature gathers and the billionaire who paid to try to put this question on the ballot failed to follow the rules. We believe that the appeals process and the reviews by the Secretary of State are working as the law intends. They are protecting the integrity of our elections.”
