Maine Boys on Track to be Allowed Full Access to Maine Girls’ Locker Rooms, Bathrooms, Showers.

AUGUSTA, Maine – A top official in Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office has recommended invalidating a citizen initiative that would require public school athletic teams, bathrooms, locker rooms and showers to be designated by sex, placing the high-profile referendum in jeopardy just months before the November election.

Chief Deputy Secretary of State Katherine McBrien, appointed as the presiding officer in the dispute, found that the Protect Girls Sports in Maine campaign submitted 67,150 valid signatures, 532 fewer than the 67,682 required to qualify a citizen initiative for the statewide ballot.

McBrien’s recommended decision concluded that 12,542 signatures should be rejected following a legal challenge to the petition process. The recommendation is not yet final. Bellows is expected to issue a final determination on the referendum’s validity Tuesday morning, May 26.

The proposed initiative, titled “An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex,” would require public school students to compete on athletic teams corresponding with the sex listed on their birth certificates, unless a co-ed team is offered. It would also require schools to maintain separate bathrooms, locker rooms and showers for male and female students.

The recommendation is a dramatic reversal for the initiative, which Bellows’ office initially approved in March.

On March 17, Bellows announced that her office had reviewed 79,692 submitted signatures and found 71,033 valid, clearing the constitutional threshold by more than 3,300 signatures. At the time, Bellows declared the initiative valid and said it could proceed through the legislative process toward a possible statewide vote on November 3.

That initial certification was challenged in court by three Maine residents who argued that thousands of signatures counted by Bellows’ office were invalid because of defects in the collection and certification process.

In April, Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Deborah Cashman ordered Bellows’ office to conduct a further review and issue a new determination of validity after challengers raised concerns involving duplicate signatures, unattended petition sheets, suspicious-looking signatures and other alleged procedural violations.

Following an evidentiary hearing earlier this month, McBrien found significantly more invalid signatures than Bellows’ office had identified during its initial review.

According to the recommended decision, more than 5,000 signatures were invalid because they were not certified as belonging to registered voters in the municipality listed on the petition. McBrien also identified 1,930 duplicate signatures, as well as defects involving circulator affidavits, untimely oaths, crossed-out signatures and submissions that did not contain an actual voter signature.

The decision represents a major setback for Protect Girls Sports in Maine, which has argued that Maine voters should be allowed to decide whether the state’s public schools must preserve sex-based protections in girls’ athletics and private facilities.

Leyland Streiff, a Brunswick resident and leader of the referendum effort, said the campaign is continuing its defense of the initiative.

“Protect Girls Sports in Maine is reviewing the recommended decision closely,” Streiff told Maine Public in a statement reported Thursday. “We are continuing our defense of the Protect Girls Sports ballot measure and will be filing our objections to the recommended decision before the May 23 deadline.

Ben Midgley, Republican candidate for Governor said “Today, Shenna Bellows silenced the Maine people by invalidating the Protect Girls Sports referendum. This is wrong. Maine people should be given the opportunity to vote on this common-sense measure that protects Maine girls. This is not only about fairness, but also about safety.”

Opponents of the referendum celebrated McBrien’s recommendation. David Farmer, a spokesman for the Campaign for Free and Fair Schools, told Maine Public that the recommendation was “a victory for our election laws and the integrity of our process,” while accusing paid, out-of-state signature gatherers of failing to follow Maine’s petition rules.

The ballot fight comes amid an escalating statewide and national debate over whether biological males should be permitted to compete in girls’ sports or use female-designated bathrooms and locker rooms in public schools.

The issue has already placed Maine at the center of a dispute with the Trump administration, which has argued that sex-based protections in girls’ athletics are required under federal law, while Maine’s Democratic leadership has continued defending policies allowing transgender-identifying students to participate in sports based on gender identity.

Bellows, a Democrat who is currently seeking her party’s nomination for governor, now faces the final decision over whether the referendum will survive.

Protect Girls Sports in Maine has until the end of Saturday to submit objections to McBrien’s recommendation. After Bellows issues her final determination Tuesday, either side may seek further review in court.

Unless Bellows rejects her deputy’s recommendation or a court intervenes, Maine voters will not be permitted to decide the proposed girls’ sports and school facilities measure on the November ballot.