It’s fall 2026, which means election season. Ballots drop October 13, so make sure to check your voter registration now and register any new voters in your life.
This year is a bit unique, electorally. Once every twelve years Utah has no statewide races—meaning no president, governor, or US Senators on the ballot. 2026 is such a year. However, all Utah voters statewide will see two amendments on the ballot, Amendments A and B. Both have to do with ballot initiatives.
We suggest voting “no” on both. Because Amendment B has more power to change Utah’s future, we’ll focus on it first—more to come on Amendment A in a future post. Buckle up, B is bad.
Amendment B
Amendment B proposes to change the Utah Constitution by raising the threshold to pass citizen-led ballot initiatives that impact taxes from a simple majority to 60%. This is a Constitutional Amendment, and thus a permanent change.
The major question is whether this initiative is more about keeping taxes low or more about curtailing the ballot initiative.
We strongly believe it’s the latter. Our lawmakers have shown a pattern of consolidating power at the expense of the executive branch, courts, and citizens themselves. Ballot initiatives seem to be a particular target. Take Amendment D proposed in 2024, which used misleading language so voters would let the Legislature substantially change voter-approved ballot initiatives. In other words: Utah’s leaders sought to undermine the right of Utah citizens to check their representatives (the initiative was ultimately disqualified from the ballot).
Back to Amendment B. We worry that including language around “taxes” leverages Utah citizens’ understandable partiality to low taxes to advance an agenda that concentrates more power in the legislative branch. In our opinion, that would be shortsighted. We don’t expect Amendment B to lower taxes, but its vague language and 60% threshold may well erode the power of ordinary Utah citizens to effect change in their government.
Let’s start with how legislation is made.
How to pass legislation
At present, there are two ways of passing legislation in Utah:
A simple majority of state lawmakers vote for a bill. That looks like at least 38 of 75 state representatives and at least 15 of 29 state senators voting for a measure. Legislation can pass with 53 total votes. With a supermajority in both chambers, the dominant party’s caucus can easily find more than enough votes to pass what it wants to without needing compromise.1
Citizens gather signatures. To qualify, an initiative needs signatures from at least 8% of active registered voters in the state in at least 26 of 29 counties, along with meeting other statutory requirements and receiving a majority of votes. In other words, to get on your ballot, initiatives currently require ~141,000 verified signatures across the state—a feat that requires a huge volunteer effort and fundraising. Utah has nearly 1,780,000 active registered voters, and during the 2024 general election 1.4 million Utahns voted. So passing an initiative requires gaining over 700,000 voters’ support.
Compare the processes: citizen initiatives are not simple, easy, or cheap. The broad outreach requisite to pass with many hundreds of thousands of votes makes it hard for special interests to play an outsized part (as it should be!). Frankly, it’s much easier for lobbyists to donate to 53 legislators’ campaigns. Successfully getting 8% of voters to sign and over 50% to vote for any initiative is akin to a modern miracle.
A history of ballot initiatives
Citizens’ power to legislate has been enshrined in Utah’s Constitution since a 1900 amendment for citizen-led initiatives passed with 71% of the vote. Not all states allow for direct democracy, but Utahns claim it as their constitutional right and heritage.
Some 220 initiatives have made it to voters’ ballots since 1901. The vast majority of these initiatives (192) were referred by the legislature. Regular Utah citizens have gathered enough signatures and met the other requirements to put just 28 initiatives on the ballot in over a century.
Getting to “yes” is hard
Only 25% of citizen-led initiatives have passed at the current simple majority threshold, not least because people tend to vote “no” easier than “yes.” About 20% of voters choose “no” regardless of the measure—take a recent constitutional amendment to abolish all forms of slavery; a noncontroversial question with no opposition. Only 80.5% of Utah voters voted “yes” to abolish slavery in 2020.
Moreover, only 7 citizen-led measures have passed in Utah during the past 70 years. Of the 28 citizen ballot initiatives that have made it to the ballot in Utah’s 130 year history, just two such measures garnered at least 60% of the vote, both in 2000. The current bar is clearly not easy to clear.
And citizens’ right to reform their government is crucial.
Checks and balances
Our ballot initiative currently serves as one of the most powerful checks on state power. Given Utah’s current one-party trifecta—one party holding power in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches—plus the GOP legislative supermajority, the people’s check is essential to the balance of power.2
Frankly, we believe Amendment B will hinder the constitutional power of Utah citizens to enact legislation that legislators have shown themselves unwilling to pass.
Vague language
Amendment B asks this question: “Shall the Utah Constitution be amended to require that citizen-proposed laws that increase taxes compared to existing law be approved by at least 60% of voters, instead of a simple majority?”
We wonder who gets to define “citizen-proposed laws that increase taxes compared to existing law”? Is that the legislature themselves? Why restrict only citizen-led petitions when the vast majority of amendments are referred by lawmakers?
As Utah leaders have frequently attempted to avoid citizen-sponsored laws, we worry that Amendment B could be misconstrued to block most citizen amendments going forward. It certainly would have in the past.
Broad effects
Although Amendment B is not retroactive, such legislation would have impacted the past three citizen-led initiatives Utah voters passed in 2018 if it had been in place. As a reminder, that year Utahns voted for an historic number of citizen-led measures, including:
Prop 2, which allowed for and taxed medical cannabis
Prop 3, which raised sales tax on non-food items for Medicaid expansion3
Prop 4, which created an independent redistricting committee
All three propositions passed with between 50.3%–53.3% of the vote, a simple majority. Prop 3 on Medicaid expansion explicitly raised sales tax on certain items to fund the program and thus would have failed a 60% vote requirement—which would have caused over 85,000 Utahns to lose health insurance the majority of voters wanted them to have. Prop 2 also arguably had tax implications. While Prop 4 likely would not have been directly affected, the vague language in Amendment B could have led to further challenges in court.
Frankly, any ballot initiative can have major budget implications, impact how the legislature chooses to allocate money, and lead to changes in tax and funding decisions. Interpreting Amendment B broadly, it’s possible many future initiatives would fall under this new threshold.
How hard is 60%?
Chances are, almost all citizen-led legislation would fail this threshold. Many experts believe that in today’s polarized world, 60% is practically insurmountable. Take the Sunshine State. In 2006, Florida voters approved a measure that increase its ballot threshold to require 60% to pass. No measure has passed since.
All 13 of Florida’s most recent ballot measures garnered between 50–60% of the vote and thus failed. Ironically, the amendment to require a 60% threshold only got 57% of Floridians’ votes—and now it bars others from doing the same.
It’s worth noting that Utah’s legislators aren’t holding themselves to the same standard. Even if Amendment B passes, state lawmakers can increase or lower taxes with just a simple majority.
The future of Utah’s ballot initiatives
We see Amendment B as taking Constitutional authority from the people. It’s just the latest in a string of Utah leaders’ attacks on the citizen ballot initiative following the failure of Amendment D two years ago.
We don’t believe ordinary Utahns’ best interests are served by handing over their Constitutional rights. Having worked towards initiatives and referendums, we have no desire to make a system that is already difficult and expensive even more so. Undermining ballot initiatives further concentrates power in politicians, lobbyists, and other special interests.4
Most importantly, we want to protect the power of Utah citizens. As a concerned group of engaged Utahns, we remain strongly for preserving the rights of people to alter their government. When government fails to respond to citizens’ needs, we believe that voters need a viable path enact policies and hold our leaders accountable.
Let’s keep citizens’ path to enacting legislation open—vote no on Amendment B.
The exception to the legislature’s simple majority threshold are veto overrides. If the governor vetoes legislation, a supermajority (two-thirds of legislators) is required to override the veto. with our one-party supermajority, most bills are passed with far more consensus—meaning that many bills are essentially veto-proof before they reach the governor’s desk.
Check out this excellent Harvard Political Review synopsis on how Utah’s leadership keeps undermining Utah voters’ will.
Proponents of the 60% threshold seem to believe it will keep special interests from having a voice. We find the opposite: that having a robust process for citizens keeps special interests and lobbyists more in check. Our current legislature is rife with special interests—an outsized number of developers, people who benefit from charter school boards, and more.