Voters to decide on sports and education initiatives in Washington and Nebraska

Voters in Washington and Nebraska will face ballot initiatives addressing school athletics and education policies.

In Washington, the League of Women Voters has urged residents to vote against Initiatives 26-001 and 26-638. The organization argues these measures are flawed and could cause unintended harm to students. Specifically, they claim Initiative 26-001 could lead to the disclosure of protected medical information, potentially discouraging students facing health challenges from seeking help. They also contend Initiative 26-638 may be unconstitutional by requiring doctors to certify a girl’s sex without similar requirements for boys, which they argue violates rights to privacy and equal protection.

In Nebraska, Initiative 442 seeks to amend the state constitution to establish requirements for participation in girls’ and women’s school athletics based on biological sex. While the Nebraska Legislature previously passed the Stand With Women Act (LB 89) to address this issue, proponents of the initiative seek to codify these requirements within the constitution to make them more difficult to repeal or amend through the standard legislative process.