The men behind Maine Girl Dads will defend their ballot initiative to bar males from girls’ sports and spaces at a May 12 hearing following a lawsuit challenging the validity of the signatures after Secretary of State (SOS) Shenna Bellows already declared the signatures valid.
“A challenge to the Secretary of State’s validation is not surprising; it was expected, and it will be overcome,” Maine Girl Dads co-leader Leyland Streiff told The Maine Wire following the challenge.
Bellows announced the hearing on Wednesday after she was ordered to make a determination on the challenge by May 26 by the Maine Superior Court.
The hearing will give petitioners the opportunity to defend the validity of their signatures while the challengers present their objections before Chief Deputy Secretary of State Katherine McBrien.
In order to place a referendum question on the ballot, Maine Girl Dads was required to collect 67,682 signatures. They submitted 79,692, 71,033 of which were accepted by Bellows on March 17.
Jane Gilbert, Mark Sayre, and Kaitlin Webber then submitted a lawsuit challenging Bellows’ decision.
They alleged that petitioners collected signatures improperly and that some of the submitted signatures should be invalidated.
On April 24, the Superior Court remanded the decision to the Secretary of State, directing her to take new evidence into account as necessary.
Anyone seeking to intervene in the matter can file a written request by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 1. The hearing will be held in room 127 of the State House, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Streiff and Republican lawmakers have expressed displeasure at the language for the question Bellows has proposed to put on the ballot, arguing that it intentionally frames the issue negatively to encourage voters to oppose the referendum and misrepresents aspects of the referendum.
[RELATED: ‘Maine Girls’ Dad’ Referendum Ballot Question Released as Bellows Opens Public Comment Period…]
“Do you want to change civil rights and education laws to require public schools to restrict access to bathrooms and sports based on the gender on the child’s original birth certificate and allow students to sue the schools,” reads Bellows’ proposed wording.
