A lawsuit has been filed challenging a proposed referendum that would ban transgender athletes from competing on public school teams based on the gender listed on their original birth certificate.
The measure, expected to appear on the ballot this fall, would require public schools to maintain separate bathrooms, locker rooms and locker rooms based on a student’s birth sex, and would also allow students who believe they were denied athletic opportunities by transgender athletes to sue for damages.
However, three Maine residents have filed a lawsuit alleging that the referendum’s supporters failed to collect valid signatures from enough registered voters to qualify for the ballot. They say in the complaint that they identified hundreds of duplicate signatures and hundreds that were missing required date information. It also claims some signatures were from unregistered voters or omitted required residency information.
Secretary of State’s Office said In March, 71,033 signatures were announced as valid. This exceeded the 67,682 required to qualify for the referendum, which is 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.
The lawsuit alleges that at least 7,000 additional signatures should have been deemed invalid because required information was missing or duplicated. This would be in addition to the 8,659 signatures already rejected by the Secretary of State’s office out of 79,692 submitted.
The Maine Attorney General’s Office, which is representing Secretary of State Shena Bellows, acknowledged that up to 3,014 signatures originally declared valid may need to be invalidated, but argued that many of the claims in the lawsuit should be dismissed, the newspaper reported. portland press herald.
Bellows acknowledged in a court filing that some of the additional signatures may have been invalid, but not enough to remove the measure from the ballot.
At a hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Bolton argued that the opponents’ argument was legally flawed and that even if more than 3,000 signatures were invalidated, the referendum would still exceed the threshold of more than 300 signatures.
“Some of these challenges have failed as a matter of law, and the court should dismiss them,” Bolton said, according to the Portland CBS affiliate. WGME. “Some degree of error is inevitable in verifying a petition containing nearly 80,000 signatures within the very short time allowed by law.”
The group that circulated the petition, the Maine Women’s Sports Conservancy, said it agrees with Bellows’ decision to certify the referendum and expects the court to rule in Bellows’ favor.
“And when I say I’m going to make a decision, the court has several options,” Tim Woodcock, president of Protect Girls Sports of Maine, told WGME. “We may decide on the merits, or we may refer the matter back to the Secretary of State to assess a number of issues.”
Woodcock said his clients are “confident that the petition collection process was successful,” pushing back against claims that petitioners left documents in violation of state law or that some signatures appeared “suspicious” because of similar handwriting.
“Ultimately, we are confident that the petition signatures collected were sufficient to meet this challenge,” Woodcock said.
If the court sides with the Attorney General’s Office, the bill would be on the November general election ballot and would need a majority to pass. Even if it happens, the measure could face further legal challenges before it takes effect. maine human rights law Discrimination based on gender identity is prohibited.
As written, the question on the ballot says: “Do you want to amend the Civil Rights and Education Acts to require public schools to restrict access to restrooms and sports based on the gender on a child’s birth certificate, and to allow students to sue schools?”
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Proponents of the referendum have criticized Bellows, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor, saying the wording of the question was biased, misleading and intended to induce voters to reject the measure.
“@shennabellows released the wording of a ballot question about protecting women’s sports and spaces. Not surprisingly, there is no mention of protecting women’s sports and spaces,” said state Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn). I wrote With X.
“[Bellows] They tend to verbalize voting questions so voters have to agree with negative opinions,” User X said. answered To Libby’s post. “Most people initially read negative language and want to object to it. It’s disingenuous to write questions like this to manipulate voters into a desired outcome.”
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Principals Association reportedly say there are only two transgender high school athletes competing statewide. they,
The referendum was reportedly funded by Republican megadonor Richard Uihlein of Illinois. main beacon. The newspaper reported that Uihlein, a shipping billionaire and Schlitz Brewing heir, donated $800,000 to Safeguard Girls Sports, a ballot question committee supporting the measure.
“This is not a homegrown effort,” said Desti Homan Sprague of the Maine Women’s Lobby. beacon. “We want Mainers to understand that this is not about sports, this is about an attempt by national extremists to take over Maine politics and drive the conversation in November.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
