Foes of California transgender rights law revive ballot fight

Opponents of a new California law that provides transgender students certain rights in public schools are challenging the secretary of state’s finding that they failed to gather enough voter signatures for a referendum to repeal the law.

The Pacific Justice Institute, a Christian legal group, announced Tuesday that it has filed papers in Sacramento Superior Court seeking a court order that would compel Secretary of State Debra Bowen to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Attorney Matthew McReynolds says the group is arguing that county election officers improperly invalidated more than 17,276 signatures from the petitions the referendum’s supporters circulated.

McReynolds says his own signature was thrown out because it did not match the one on his original voter registration card, a discrepancy he attributed to the fact that he is now blind.