Equality Maryland and Lambda Legal have filed a motion to have the Montgomery County Circuit Court to invalidate signatures for a referendum that would overturn protections for transgender people.The law in question was signed by County Executive Isiah Leggett and intends to protect the transgender community from discrimination.

The organizations claim that the group opposing the law, Citizens for Responsible Government, collectd thousands of invalid signatures. Equality Maryland attorney Jonathan Shurberg said that CRG provided “inflammatory, inaccurate, misleading and untrue statements about the bill” while collecting the signatures.

The Gazette reports:

‘‘There is a high standard that must be met when it comes to attacking a duly-enacted law by referendum,” said Natalie Chin, staff attorney at Lambda Legal, which has joined with Equality Maryland to oppose the referendum effort. ‘‘Thousands of the signatures on this petition do not meet that standard.”

Citizens for Responsible Government needed 25,001 signatures to get the issue put on the ballot; they collected 32,000.

The Montgomery County Board of Elections validated 27,000 of them.

…

State and county election codes require petitioners to provide ‘‘fair and accurate” information to signers, Shurberg said.

Instead those collecting signatures were told no public hearings were held on the bill, that it had never been amended, that it would create unisex public bathrooms, and that the petition would only amend rather than overturn the bill, according to the lawsuit.

In addition, CRG supporters also told prospective signers that even if they supported the bill, they should sign the petition to show their approval, Shurberg said.

In addition, the signatures have to be written just as the name appears on the voter registration rolls.