Voters in Four States Pass Ballot Measures Restricting Trans Athletes in Girls Sports
State-level ballot results on November 4-5, 2026 show that restrictions on transgender athletes in girls and women's sports have continued to pass in both reliably Republican and competitive...
Voters in Washington, Arizona, Nebraska, and Colorado approved or were on track to approve ballot measures barring transgender athletes from competing on girls and women's sports teams, according to results reported by the New York Post on November 5, 2026.
Washington and Arizona each passed measures explicitly prohibiting transgender athletes from competing on girls teams, per the same report. The results in Washington are notable because the state has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1988, according to the National Archives records of certified electoral votes.
In Colorado, a comparable measure was narrowly leading as vote counting continued Thursday, according to the New York Post report. The final outcome in Colorado had not been certified as of the time of this publication. The document that would confirm the final result is Colorado's official canvass, published by the Colorado Secretary of State's office.
Nebraska voters approved a constitutional amendment that would enshrine the state's existing statutory ban on transgender athletes in girls and women's sports directly into the state constitution, per the New York Post report. Nebraska had already enacted a statutory restriction prior to this election cycle, meaning the amendment elevates the legal durability of the existing policy by placing it beyond ordinary legislative repeal.
The four state actions occur within a broader federal legislative context. Congress passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in the House in January 2025 along a party-line vote, 218 to 206, according to the congressional roll call record (House Roll Call Vote 42, 119th Congress). That bill, which would condition federal education funding on schools restricting sports participation by biological sex, did not receive a Senate floor vote as of the date of this publication. The status of companion legislation in the 120th Congress, which convened following the 2026 midterms, is not yet established.
The ballot measures differ in legal structure from federal legislation. State constitutional amendments, such as Nebraska's, require a separate statewide vote to repeal and cannot be overridden by a simple legislative majority. Statutory ballot measures in Washington, Arizona, and Colorado can in some circumstances be amended by the state legislature, depending on each state's rules governing voter-enacted statutes. The specific procedural rules governing legislative amendment of each measure are set out in the respective state constitutions and would be the governing documents for any future challenge.
Federal courts have not issued a uniform ruling on the constitutionality of transgender athlete restrictions. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in B.P.J. V. West Virginia State Board of Education (No. 21-1823) that West Virginia's restriction was subject to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause, though that ruling addressed a preliminary injunction and did not resolve the case on the merits. Separate district court and circuit court rulings in other jurisdictions have reached differing conclusions. The Supreme Court has not taken up a direct challenge to a transgender athlete sports restriction as of this date.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Section 1681) prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs. The Biden administration issued guidance in 2023 proposing that categorical bans on transgender athletes may conflict with Title IX, while the Trump administration rescinded that guidance following the January 2025 change in administration, according to Federal Register notices from both administrations. The current regulatory posture of the Department of Education on this question governs how federal funding conditions interact with state measures.
The political alignment of the November 5 results with the broader 2026 midterm landscape is notable. As covered in Democrats Win House and Senate as Voter Anger Drives 2026 Midterm Shift, Democratic candidates made gains in congressional races on the same election day, meaning voters in several states simultaneously supported Democratic congressional candidates and ballot restrictions on transgender athletes. Cross-ticket ballot behavior of this kind has been documented in prior cycles on issues including minimum wage, marijuana legalization, and redistricting reform, according to National Conference of State Legislatures data on ballot initiative outcomes.
Several facts remain unknown at publication time. The final certified vote margins in Washington, Arizona, and Colorado have not been released. It is also not yet established whether any plaintiff has filed or intends to file a legal challenge to any of the four measures. Court filings in the relevant federal district courts, specifically the Western District of Washington, the District of Arizona, and the District of Colorado, would be the first public records to reflect any such challenge. The legislative calendar for the 120th Congress on federal sports eligibility legislation has not been announced.