A Maine Superior Court judge has upheld Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ decision to block the citizens initiative brought forward by Protect Girls Sports in Maine from appearing on the ballot this November.

Under the proposed legislation, students would only be eligible to play on sports teams and access protected spaces such as locker rooms and bathrooms that align with their biological sex, regardless of whether or not they identify as transgender.

Although the petition to place this measure on the ballot was originally successful, receiving validation from the Secretary of State’s Office in March, three individuals sued alleging that signatures were improperly collected.

Bellows agreed with the arguments being presented by the challengers and reversed her position on the petition’s eligibility in late May.

Submitted to the state were 8,067 petition forms with 79,692 signatures, of which 71,033 were certified as valid. Petitions in support of putting the question on the ballot had been in circulation since November 3, 2025.

Protect Girls Sports in Maine took the issue back to court shortly thereafter, arguing that the Secretary of State acted outside her authority.

Superior Court Judge Deborah Cashman ruled Thursday, however, that Bellows acted appropriately in rejecting an additional 4,000 signatures that were deemed to have been improperly collected.

Leyland Streiff of Protect Girls Sports in Maine indicated that the group plans to appeal Judge Cashman’s ruling to the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

“The Protect Girls Sports Committee has received the Superior Court’s decision upholding the Secretary’s decision,” said Streiff in a statement obtained by the Maine Wire.

“The Committee is committed to continuing its efforts to allow the people of Maine to vote on the Protect Girls Sports legislation at the November general election,” Streiff said. “The Committee remains confident in challenges it raised to the Secretary’s decision and will seek review by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.”

Bellows, on the other hand, applauded the decision in an interview as reported by the Portland Press Herald.

“I swore an oath to uphold the law and Constitution, and my decision was rooted in that,” she said.

David Farmer, leader of the Campaign for Free and Fair Schools, a ballot question committee formed in opposition to the proposal, also expressed support for the decision, according to WMTW.

“There was clear evidence of inappropriate activities by the out-of-state signature collectors working for the billionaire behind this harmful ballot initiative,” Farmer said.

“Maine’s election laws protect our democracy and ensure that elections are free and fair,” he continued. “The campaign that tried to attack transgender students broke the rules, it didn’t follow the law and the Superior Court was correct to reject their appeal of the decision by the secretary of state.”

A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office told the Portland outlet Wednesday that a final decision would need to be made by August 1 in order for the ballots to be printed in time for the November election.