Supporters of a referendum that would limit the ability of transgender students to participate on sports teams in a way that aligns with their gender identity are aiming to qualify for the 2027 ballot after state officials ruled their proposal ineligible for the November election.

In an email to supporters Thursday, Leyland Streiff, a leader of the referendum effort, said his group is looking to get the question before voters next year and called for volunteers to help gather additional signatures.

The effort comes after Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled in May that the citizen initiative question is ineligible for the ballot because organizers did not gather enough valid signatures. A signature gatherer and three people who signed petitions in support of the referendum filed a federal lawsuit challenging the decision in July.

“While our appeal is still making its way through federal court, it will not be decided in time for the November 2026 ballots to be printed,” Streiff wrote in his email. “So, we must refocus our efforts on 2027, and we need your help to ensure this gets voted on next year.”

A minimum of 67,682 signatures from registered Maine voters was required for citizen initiatives to qualify for the ballot. That number will change after Nov. 3 since it’s based on the number of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.

Supporters of the referendum in February turned in close to 80,000 signatures, of which 71,033 were initially found to be valid. About 4,000 additional signatures were then found to be invalid in the May decision, leaving the group about 500 signatures short of the threshold.

How many new signatures the group needs to gather depends on when they turn their paperwork in again. Signatures are only good for a year after they were signed, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of the Secretary of State said Thursday. The deadline to get on the 2027 ballot is in late January.

Streiff said backers of the referendum are aiming to collect roughly 5,000 signatures by early October in order to resubmit their petition.

The email asked for volunteers to help collect them in a targeted effort on the weekend of Sept. 26-27.

“This is our chance to stand up, as Mainers, and protect the boundaries and sex-based civil rights of all kids,” it said.

The referendum would require public school students to play on teams matching their sex as it appears on their birth certificates. Girls could participate on a boys team if no female team is available to them in a given sport. The proposal also would require schools to maintain separate bathrooms and locker rooms for use by students based on the sex they were assigned at birth.

A coalition of groups, including EqualityMaine, the Maine Women’s Lobby and GLAD Law have worked to oppose the referendum, which they say treats Maine students unfairly and could cost schools millions of dollars in construction and litigation.

The groups have also taken issue with conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein’s spending on the initiative. Uihlein — the founder of the Wisconsin-based Uline Corp. — and the Restoration of America PAC — of which Uihlein is a top donor — gave $850,000 to a ballot question committee in support of the referendum.