{"id":2401417,"date":"2025-02-11T13:28:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T18:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-these-gop-bills-thwart-dems-abuse-of-ballot-initiatives\/"},"modified":"2025-02-11T13:34:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T18:34:24","slug":"can-these-gop-bills-thwart-dems-abuse-of-ballot-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-these-gop-bills-thwart-dems-abuse-of-ballot-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Can These GOP Bills Thwart Dems&#8217; Abuse Of Ballot Initiatives?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcan-these-gop-bills-thwart-dems-abuse-of-ballot-initiatives%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2401417&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In \u200dresponse to the perceived\u200b manipulation of ballot initiatives by Democrats during\u200c the 2024 elections, Republican officials in several states, including \u2062Idaho, are \u200cproposing measures to increase \u200cthe difficulty of amending state constitutions through initiative petitions. The Idaho Senate\u2062 State Affairs \u200dCommittee has advanced a bill\u2064 (SJR \u200c101) that would raise \u200cthe \u200crequirements\u200b for\u200b qualifying a ballot initiative from 6%\u2064 of registered voters in 18 districts to 6% in \u2064all 35 districts. The bill needs two-thirds approval from both the Senate and House before being presented to voters. The \u2063intent is to create barriers to out-of-state interests promoting leftist\u200c agendas, as indicated \u2062by the \u2063amendment\u2019s sponsor, GOP Senator \u200cDoug \u200bOkuniewicz.<\/p>\n<p>This\u2063 initiative comes after past attempts to impose \u2063similar restrictions were struck down by the Idaho Supreme Court. \u2064Notably, during the 2024\u200d elections, various controversial \u200cmeasures\u200b backed by Democrats\u2014often funded by notable out-of-state contributions\u2014successfully altered state\u2062 policies\u2062 across the country, which \u200cspurred Republicans\u2063 to take defensive action. Similar\u200c legislative efforts\u2064 to tighten ballot initiative\u2064 processes are also occurring in states like Florida, Missouri, and North\u2063 Dakota, indicating a\u200c broader movement among GOP lawmakers to counter what they characterize\u2063 as abuses of \u2063the \u2063citizen-led amendment process.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>After witnessing Democrats weaponize the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meet-the-nonpartisan-dark-money-group-rigging-michigan-elections-so-democrats-cant-lose\/\" title=\"Dark-money group rigging Michigan elections to prevent Democratic losses.\">ballot initiative process<\/a> to enshrine their radical agenda into state constitutions during the 2024 election, several Republican state officials are seeking to stymie such destructive efforts from being successfully deployed in their backyards. <\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/idahocapitalsun.com\/2025\/02\/07\/constitutional-amendment-to-raise-ballot-initiative-requirements-advances-in-idaho-legislature\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advanced<\/a> a measure raising the threshold for amending the state constitution via initiative petition proposals. The bill now heads to the full Senate floor, where it requires two-thirds support before it can cross over to the House.<\/p>\n<p>If passed by two-thirds of both chambers, the measure would then go to voters for approval. <\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/the-newsroom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left-wing<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/idahocapitalsun.com\/2025\/02\/07\/constitutional-amendment-to-raise-ballot-initiative-requirements-advances-in-idaho-legislature\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Idaho Capital Sun<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.idaho.gov\/sessioninfo\/2025\/legislation\/SJR101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SJR 101<\/a> &ldquo;calls for increasing the requirement to qualify a ballot initiative or referendum from the current threshold of 6% of registered voters statewide and 6% of voters in 18 different legislative districts to 6% of voters statewide and 6% of voters in all 35 legislative districts.&rdquo; Amendment sponsor and GOP Sen. Doug Okuniewicz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boisestatepublicradio.org\/politics-government\/2025-02-07\/idaho-ballot-initiative-restrictions-senate-committee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> indicated the goal of the proposal is to place &ldquo;a few speed bumps in the way&rdquo; of out-of-state interests seeking to weaponize the ballot initiative process and shoehorn leftist priorities into Idaho&rsquo;s founding document.<\/p>\n<p>A similar measure passed by the legislature was <a href=\"https:\/\/idahocapitalsun.com\/2025\/02\/07\/constitutional-amendment-to-raise-ballot-initiative-requirements-advances-in-idaho-legislature\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">struck down<\/a> in 2021 by the Idaho Supreme Court. However, that was a statutory bill, whereas SJR 101 is a constitutional amendment that requires approval from two-thirds of the legislature and, as Okuniewicz noted to the Idaho Capital Sun, a majority of voters.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The people brought this section of the Constitution into existence in 1912, and they can take it out or change it as they see fit,&rdquo; Okuniewicz said, according to the outlet. &ldquo;Simply put, SJR 101 is constitutional if the people pass it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/05\/democrats-are-weaponizing-dark-money-and-ballot-initiatives-to-turn-red-states-blue\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, Democrat activists have <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">hijacked citizen-initiated ballot measures<\/a> to dramatically alter state constitutions throughout the country, including in Republican-friendly states. Boosted by Democrats&rsquo; dark money machine, these leftists craft <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/15\/dishonest-ballot-initiative-wording-is-another-way-democrats-rig-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deceptively worded<\/a> amendments to deceive voters into approving left-wing policies they would otherwise be unlikely to support.<\/p>\n<p>This strategy was evident during the 2024 elections, which saw duplicitous initiatives promoting <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/12\/the-good-bad-and-ugly-of-2024s-abortion-ballot-referendums\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">abortion<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/05\/florida-voters-defeat-pro-abortion-marijuana-ballot-amendments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">marijuana legalization<\/a>, and other <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/06\/voters-across-the-country-take-a-sledgehammer-to-ranked-choice-voting-initiatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrat-backed measures<\/a> make their way onto states&rsquo; ballots. <\/p>\n<p>In the case of Idaho, out-of-state <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/11\/report-campaign-to-repeal-alaskas-ranked-choice-voting-system-is-being-outspent-100-to-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">groups<\/a> with leftist ties collectively gave millions of dollars to the organization supporting <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Idaho_Proposition_1,_Top-Four_Ranked-Choice_Voting_Initiative_(2024)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Proposition 1<\/a>, which sought to bring a top-four <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ranked-choice-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ranked-choice voting<\/a> system to the Gem State&rsquo;s elections. The initiative proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by 2024 voters (70 to 30 percent).<\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/12\/the-good-bad-and-ugly-of-2024s-abortion-ballot-referendums\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Good, Bad, And Ugly Of 2024&rsquo;s Abortion Ballot Referendums<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s not just Idaho where Republicans are seeking to stymie Democrats&rsquo; abuse of the citizen-led <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-ballot-amendment-process-became-democrats-new-strategy-to-entrench-their-agenda-into-law\/\" title=\"... have adopted the ... amendment process to solidify their agenda in law.\">ballot amendment process<\/a>. GOP officials in numerous states have put forward proposals seeking to implement safeguards around the ballot qualification process for these proposals. <\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, as part of his call for a special session of the legislature to tackle illegal immigration, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flgov.com\/eog\/legislative-special-session-proposals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">requested<\/a> lawmakers to pass measures strengthening the integrity of the ballot amendment process. This included suggested policies that would &ldquo;[e]liminate third-party collection of petition forms and implement the same verification measures currently used for voting,&rdquo; &ldquo;[m]ake it a third-degree felony for a person to offer or accept compensation to sign or refrain from signing an initiative petition,&rdquo; and more.<\/p>\n<p>During the 2024 cycle, the DeSantis administration released a report weeks before the general election <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/florida-abortion-ad-fraud-0c37fea6f71788e1c6b65c4488570e4d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contending<\/a> a &ldquo;large number of forged signatures or fraudulent petitions&rdquo; were submitted to get the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/05\/florida-voters-defeat-pro-abortion-marijuana-ballot-amendments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heavily-challenged-amendment-protecting-abortion-heads-to-michigan-voters-after-ruling-from-state-supreme-court\/\" title=\"Heavily-Challenged Amendment Protecting Abortion Heads To Michigan Voters After Ruling From ... Supreme Court\">pro-abortion amendment<\/a><\/a> on the ballot, according to reports. The state also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/florida-abortion-ballot-measure-under-fire-by-state-government\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">levied<\/a> a $328,000 fine against the group behind the amendment, which subsequently <a href=\"https:\/\/files.floridados.gov\/media\/708696\/oecs-supplemental-interim-report-12-20-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paid<\/a> a $164,000 fine as part of a post-election <a href=\"https:\/\/flvoicenews.com\/pro-abortion-amendment-sponsor-fined-164k-in-settlement-over-alleged-petition-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">settlement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/21\/boosted-by-out-of-state-dark-money-alaskas-ranked-choice-voting-system-is-here-to-stay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Boosted By Out-Of-State Dark Money, Alaska&rsquo;s Ranked-Choice Voting System Is Here To Stay<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Missouri, Republican lawmakers have introduced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.mo.gov\/25info\/BTS_Web\/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=514\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">constitutional amendment<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.mo.gov\/25info\/BTS_Web\/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&amp;BillID=347\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposals<\/a> aimed at raising the threshold for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arkansas-attorney-general-rejects-ballot-measure-proposing-a-constitutional-right-to-abortion\/\" title=\"Arkansas AG denies abortion rights ... measure\">proposed ballot measures<\/a> to take effect. Initiative petition reform came close to passing last year but was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/30\/how-senate-republicans-tanked-efforts-to-keep-abortion-out-of-missouris-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">killed<\/a> by the state&rsquo;s then-GOP Senate leadership.<\/p>\n<p>The legislature&rsquo;s inaction ultimately led to left-wing activists successfully <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/12\/the-good-bad-and-ugly-of-2024s-abortion-ballot-referendums\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">enshrining<\/a> abortion into the Missouri Constitution during the 2024 election. <\/p>\n<p>Other states with pending legislation aimed at enhancing protections and standards for the ballot amendment process include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billtrack50.com\/billdetail\/1804305\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Arkansas<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ndlegis.gov\/assembly\/69-2025\/regular\/bill-overview\/bo3003.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">North Dakota<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oklegislature.gov\/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hjr1013&amp;Session=2500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ok<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billtrack50.com\/billdetail\/1787096\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lah<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billtrack50.com\/billdetail\/1777937\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oma<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans aim to block Democrats&#8217; ballot initiative tactics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2401418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2024-ballot.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[40230,38334,6203,50201],"class_list":["post-2401417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ballot-initiatives","tag-election-reform","tag-gop","tag-political-bills"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2024-ballot.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2401417"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2401421,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401417\/revisions\/2401421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2401418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2401417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}