Referendum challenging (Calif.) transgender rights law fails to make ballot
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
A referendum sponsored by social conservatives on a new state law on transgender rights has failed to qualify for the November ballot, elections officials said Monday.
The announcement means the law, which took effect Jan. 1 and allows public school students to use restrooms and play on sports teams that fit their gender identity, will remain in force. It would have been suspended until the statewide vote if the referendum had qualified.
The measure needed 504,760 valid petition signatures to qualify, and its sponsors submitted more than 619,000 signatures last November. But Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office said Monday that a county-by-county review found only 487,484 valid signatures.
A sponsor of the referendum campaign questioned Bowen's results and said backers of the proposed ballot measure would go to every county elections office in the next 21 days to review and potentially challenge decisions to invalidate signatures.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Referendum-challenging-transgender-rights-law-5263999.php
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