A state ballot initiative that would bar transgender athletes from girls’ sports has been ruled invalid.

Tuesday’s ruling from Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows comes after a lawsuit challenging the validity of thousands of signatures.

Bellows says the three Mainers who filed a lawsuit brought new evidence showing that organizers left the petition unattended while gathering signatures at a polling location.

Her office found that more than 12,000 signatures are invalid, putting the initiative about 500 signatures short of the number required for the question to appear on the ballot.

It comes after Bellows initially said that the initiative did gather enough valid signatures and would appear on the ballot.

In a response, the Maine GOP said Bellows, who’s also running for governor, “has a bad habit of abusing her power as Secretary of State for her own political agenda, and she needs to be stopped.”

Bellows says petitioners have ten days to file an appeal.