Dozens of concerned citizens gathered at a public library in Jefferson City, Missouri, to express their frustrations over recent legislative actions. The group, which included strangers brought together by a common cause, voiced their concerns about the Missouri House’s decision to overturn a voter-approved ballot initiative guaranteeing paid sick leave and minimum wage increases. Rather than focusing on blocking the Senate from taking similar actions, the citizens aimed to prevent future legislative interference with voter decisions. Republican lawmakers in Missouri have also proposed undoing parts of an abortion rights amendment and making it more challenging to pass future constitutional amendments.
Frustrated by these moves, citizen activists are working to limit the Legislature’s ability to overturn voter initiatives by seeking support for a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot. Presenter Lindsay Browning emphasized the importance of protecting the will of the people during a town-hall forum at the Missouri River Regional Library. Lawmakers defending their decisions, such as Rep. Mitch Boggs, compared voter preferences to a teenager wanting a checkbook, arguing that businesses need protection to sustain jobs.
Similar efforts to restrict citizen initiatives are happening in other states, with about 100 bills in 18 states seeking to make it harder for citizens to pass initiatives. The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center is monitoring these bills, which aim to increase the difficulty of getting initiatives on the ballot and passing them.
Kelly Hall, the executive director of The Fairness Project, a progressive group that has supported 43 state ballot initiatives since 2016, described the abundance of such legislation as a critique of our representative democracy. In Idaho, a Republican lawmaker introduced a bill this year to grant the governor veto power over ballot initiatives approved by voters with less than two-thirds support, but the bill was stalled in a House committee. However, similar bills have been passed in other states. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed several laws targeting initiative canvassers, including requirements for verifying petition signers’ full understanding of the ballot title and presentation of photo identification. Utah legislators recently voted to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot, mandating 60% approval for future initiatives that involve raising or imposing taxes, similar to a measure narrowly approved by Arizona voters in 2022.
In South Dakota, where the initiative movement originated in 1898, lawmakers have enacted several measures to restrict the initiative process. These include reducing the time for gathering petition signatures, requiring a minimum number of signatures from all 35 state Senate districts in addition to the statewide threshold for qualifying a proposed constitutional amendment for the ballot. A separate measure, to be decided by voters in 2026, proposes a 60% threshold for approving constitutional amendments rather than a simple majority. In 2022, South Dakota voters rejected a legislative proposal for a 60% approval requirement for new taxes and large spending measures, while also approving a Medicaid expansion initiative with 56% support. This year, lawmakers placed a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot that would terminate expanded Medicaid coverage if the federal government fails to continue covering at least 90% of the costs.
Republican legislators in South Dakota, who hold the majority in the Legislature, emphasized that U.S. Constitutional amendments require approval from three-fourths of states and raised concerns about out-of-state groups funding initiatives promoting what they viewed as “radical agendas,” such as failed ballot proposals on abortion rights and open primaries. State Senator Sue Peterson argued during the debate that the constitution must be safeguarded from temporary political influences and the whims of a mere majority.
