Ballot Math / Statewide / Prop 318

Ballot measure: Statewide, referred statute

Proposition 318: The Protect Girls' Sports in Arizona Act

Officially: Proposition 318, HCR 2003 (2026). "Requires all schools and athletic associations to designate athletic teams as male, female, or coed based on the biological sex of the athletes as defined at birth; prohibits these entities from authorizing use of private spaces not designated for a person's sex." Sponsored by Rep. Selina Bliss. It amends Section 15-120.02, the 2022 school sports law.

In one sentence: every team in every Arizona school, public or private, would be designated male, female, or coed by sex as recorded on the athlete's original birth certificate, and the same designation would govern locker rooms, restrooms, and showers in athletics.

What it does

  • Extends who is covered. Current law (2022) reaches public schools and schools competing against them. This measure reaches all schools, public and private, plus higher education institutions and athletic associations.
  • Defines the test. "Sex" means biological status as male or female as recorded at birth on the original birth certificate. Males may not be designated for female teams.
  • Reaches private spaces. Schools and associations may not authorize anyone to use restrooms, locker rooms, or shower rooms not designated for that person's sex.
  • Adds enforcement. Athletes may sue schools or associations that knowingly violate the act.
  • One effect in the other direction: it removes the existing provision allowing female students to participate on male-designated teams. A yes vote bars girls from boys' teams (relevant where no girls' team exists in a sport) as well as boys from girls' teams.

Legal posture: portions of the 2022 law are blocked in ongoing Ninth Circuit equal-protection litigation. A single-subject challenge to this measure failed in Maricopa County Superior Court, so it is on your ballot. Voter approval would not end the federal litigation; a voter-approved statute would still be tested against the U.S. Constitution.

A YES vote

The designation rule, the private-spaces rule, and the lawsuit right apply to all Arizona schools and athletic associations, on the birth-certificate definition of sex.

A NO vote

The 2022 law remains as it is, covering public schools, with its blocked portions still in federal court. Nothing in current law changes.

The strongest case for YES

  • Fairness and safety in competition. Supporters argue male puberty confers lasting physical advantages, and girls' categories exist precisely to exclude them. A uniform, birth-certificate rule ends case-by-case disputes.
  • Privacy in intimate spaces. The same designation governs locker rooms and showers, which supporters frame as the part that affects far more students than the competition question does.
  • Uniformity. One rule for public, private, and association sports, instead of a patchwork that currently depends on whom a school competes against.

The strongest case for NO

  • It sweeps in both directions. The same amendment that bars boys from girls' teams also ends the rule letting girls play on boys' teams, which matters in sports and schools where no girls' team exists.
  • Enforcement by document. Opponents argue a birth-certificate test invites invasive disputes about individual children, and that the number of transgender athletes in Arizona school sports is extremely small relative to the apparatus created.
  • Litigation either way. The 2022 law is already in federal court; opponents argue this measure restarts the fight on broader ground, with school districts paying the legal bills.

The fine print

  • Like Prop 142, this is primarily a values question. The mechanism facts are above; this page's job is to make sure the scope (all schools, private spaces, both directions of the team rule) is visible before you decide.
  • A no vote is not a vote to change current law. The 2022 statute, and its court fight, continue untouched.
  • Coed teams remain fully legal under the measure. Schools may designate teams coed.

How to vote without getting your ballot rejected

  • Mail it by Tuesday, October 27, 2026. After that day, do not mail it: use a drop box or a vote center.
  • It must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Postmarks do not count.
  • Sign and date the affidavit envelope, and write a current phone number on it. If your signature is questioned, the county will try to reach you to fix it.
  • Leaving any item blank is allowed. It does not affect the rest of your ballot.

Sources

Ballot Math: analysis only, no endorsements. Read the official ballot language yourself; it is linked above because we want you to check us. Back to Ballot Math home.