With the November 2026 election concluded, where voters decided 145 state ballot measures across 39 states, efforts to place statewide citizen-initiated measures on the 2027 and 2028 ballots are underway in Maine and Massachusetts.
Maine Birth Certificate Sex Requirement for Public School Sports Initiative
Supporters of an initiative to require that public school sports teams designated for girls or boys be limited to students of the corresponding sex submitted a second round of signatures in an attempt to place the measure on the 2027 ballot.
Sponsors of the initiative originally filed a petition to place the measure on the ballot for the 2026 election. Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine submitted more than 82,000 signatures to the secretary of state’s office on Feb. 2. In March 2026, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) announced that the group had submitted a sufficient number of signatures and certified the measure for the 2026 ballot.
However, opponents of the initiative filed a complaint with state courts, arguing that some signatures were incorrectly validated by the state, and that the initiative should be removed from the ballot. In July 2026, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued a final decision in the case, stating that the initiative petition was 532 valid signatures short of certifying the measure for the ballot. The measure was removed from the 2026 ballot.
In September 2026, Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine announced they would renew efforts to gather additional signatures and aimed to place the measure on the 2027 ballot. On Nov. 2, they submitted an additional 4,836 signatures to the secretary of state’s office. As of Nov. 9, the secretary of state’s office has not announced when it will finish reviewing the new set of signatures.
When submitting the second round of signatures supporting the initiative, Leyland Streiff, the principal officer of Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine, said, “Our girls matter. Their boundaries matter. Their consent matters. And their sex-based civil rights matter. Today we're here to take it all back.”
Gia Drew, executive director of EqualityMaine, issued a statement when the initiative was originally certified in March 2026. She said, “If voters approve it, this measure would open the door to harassment, bullying and abuse of children. It would embolden adults and members of the public to harass and scrutinize student athletes who just want to be on the team. Enshrining the harassment of LGBTQ+ students into state law would hurt vulnerable kids and send the wrong message about who we are as Mainers.”
Massachusetts Abortion Regulations Veto Referendum
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed an emergency statement on Nov. 6 to block the suspension of House Bill 5595 (H. 5595), the Massachusetts abortion law that permits abortions in the state of Massachusetts after 24 weeks' gestation "based upon the professional judgment of the physician."
The Massachusetts veto referendum process allows voters to place a bill passed by the General Court on the ballot to uphold or repeal. If voters gather a number of signatures equal to 1.5% (37,287) of the total votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, the bill will be placed on the ballot. If they gather a number of signatures equal to 2% (49,716) of the total votes cast for governor, the bill will be placed on the ballot, and the bill will be suspended until after voters decide on the veto referendum.
However, the state constitution permits the governor to issue an emergency statement that, in their opinion, “the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or convenience requires that such law should take effect forthwith and that it is an emergency law.”
In an article announcing the emergency statement, Gov. Healey said, “The repeal campaign can continue its work, and Massachusetts voters will have their say. If they choose to repeal the law, we will respect their decision. But families should not have to go without the care they need while that process plays out. Massachusetts has a proud history of leading on civil rights, including reproductive freedom. We have a responsibility to protect the rights and care available here. We cannot allow Massachusetts to move backward.”
The Compassionate Care Coalition is leading the campaign in support of repealing H. 5595 with a veto referendum. Responding to the emergency statement, Sam Miele, chair of the coalition, said Gov. Healey did not give an adequate reason for blocking the law's suspension. He said, “The prior abortion law in Massachusetts allowed abortions after 24 weeks if the mother's life was in danger. The only thing this new law does is allow babies who pose no threat to the life of the mother to be killed at will in the womb at nine months. Governor Healey, you must explain to the voters why that is an emergency.”
Before H. 5595 took effect, Massachusetts law permitted abortions before 24 weeks' gestation and after 24 weeks' gestation when necessary to preserve the life of the mother, to protect the mother’s physical or mental health, due to a lethal fetal anomaly, or due to a fetal diagnosis that indicates the fetus/baby is unable to sustain life outside the uterus without extraordinary medical interventions.
Because of Gov. Healey’s statement, the abortion law took effect on Nov. 8, 2026, and will not be suspended before the November 2028 election.
As of the submission deadline, Nov. 6, the Compassionate Care Coalition had submitted 113,477 signatures supporting the repeal of H.5595 to the Massachusetts Election Division. Signature verification began on that date and was projected to take one to two weeks. As of Nov. 9, the division had not announced how many signatures had been certified as valid.