Secretary of State Shenna Bellows shared a statement Friday responding to the Maine Supreme Court’s ruling in a case challenging a lower court’s decision blocking Protect Girls Sports in Maine’s citizens’ initiative from appearing on the November ballot.

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.

Secretary of State 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, however, that Bellows acted appropriately in rejecting an additional 4,000 signatures that were deemed to have been improperly collected.

Protect Girls Sports then appealed this decision to the state’s Supreme Court where the lower court ruling was upheld.

A statement shared by the ballot question committee shortly after this ruling explained that the group “disagrees with the Law Court’s decision” and had already filed a lawsuit in federal court.

“[This] affirmation of the Secretary of State’s decision to invalidate the Protect Girls Sports in Maine petition disenfranchises over 71,000 valid Maine voters’ signatures… and their right to petition the government and debate sex-designated sports and spaces in schools at the ballot box this November,” the statement said.

Bellows also responded to the ruling, praising the court for invalidating the signatures submitted by four out-of-state circulators who did not “consent to the jurisdiction of the Maine courts as required.”

“Citizen initiatives are a powerful tool of direct democracy in our state, and Maine voters should have just as much confidence in petition integrity as they do in the security of our elections,” Bellows said. “This petition did not meet the legal requirements for inclusion and therefore did not qualify for the ballot after our legal review.”

“I am grateful but not surprised by the court’s ruling affirming our decision,” she added.

Click Here to Read Secretary Bellows’ Full Statement