Signature irregularities keeping trans sports ban off of Maine ballot this year

No doubt certain people will appeal this ruling, but for now the attempt by Maine's Republican party to get its voters to the polls in November via an attack on trans people has failed.

From The Advocate:

Maine’s Secretary of State announced that a trans sports ban will not appear on the ballot this year after questions about signature gathering resulted in thousands of petitions being tossed out. “Citizen initiatives are direct democracy. Just as we take voting security seriously, we take petition integrity seriously,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. 

 “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. I am proud of the hard work and dedication of the Secretary of State staff who work so hard to safeguard our elections for the benefit of every Maine voter.” 

 Bellows’s staff raised alarms weeks ago about signatures that should be invalidated because gatherers didn’t follow the correct procedure. Ultimately, Bellows determined that 12,542 signatures were invalid. She accepted 67,150 signatures, but that left the effort 140 signatures shy of the required amount to put a ballot measure before voters. 

 Some signatures were rejected because circulators failed to witness registered voters signing petition forms, while others were signed by another person, according to the state. The decision can still be appealed within ten days. Conservative activists in the state had proposed a ballot measure that would bar transgender students from using locker rooms or school bathrooms aligned with their gender identity and would segregate sports based on gender assigned at birth.