Republican state officials are getting more and more aggressive about overturning liberal ballot measures passed by voters, wrote Monica Potts for The New Republic — and it could upset a decades-long uneasy balance of power between Republicans who control these states, and the voters who elect them.
Ground zero for this war is playing out in Missouri, a state where Republicans comfortably win every lever of state power, but where voters routinely pass more progressive ballot measures — only for the legislature to overturn what voters decided.
"Last November, Missouri voters approved a ballot measure guaranteeing paid sick leave to workers in the state and raising the minimum wage, which will reach $15 an hour in 2026. It passed by a solid 58 percent," wrote Potts.
"But last month the Missouri legislature,where Republicans have a supermajority in both chambers,overturned the paid sick leave part of the law, as well as a provision that would have continued to automatically increase the minimum wage in the future."
Gov. Mike Kehoe took a victory lap, saying, “Today, we are protecting the people who make Missouri work — families, job creators, and small business owners—by cutting taxes, rolling back overreach, and eliminating costly mandates.”
"Ballot initiatives make voters feel like they can have it all, choosing policies they like à la carte while voting for candidates based on completely unrelated criteria," Potts continued. "It lets legislators off the hook while giving voters a false sense of control.
"But what’s happening to ballot initiatives in Missouri and other states could be a wake-up call for voters about how they choose candidates."
This is not limited to Missouri — over two dozen states allow for ballot referenda in some form, and many GOP-controlled states have seen passage of measures that strengthen worker rights, reform election laws, or expand Medicaid. Many of these states have then tried to either repeal these measures outright, or gut them so they are significantly weaker.
Other states have tried to restrict the process of getting policies on the ballot altogether; Ohio lawmakers famously tried to do this a few years ago to stop abortion rights from passing, but it blew up in their face.
More broadly, there are signs voters may be responding to having their will repeatedly overturned. A report last month detailed how Missouri organizers are trying to put together a ballot initiative that would severely limit the ability of the legislature to overturn policies voters approve.