After Ohio voters repealed a law pushed by Republicans that would limit union collective bargaining rights in 2011, then-GOP Gov. John Kasich was remorseful.

I heard their voices, I understand their decision and frankly I respect what people have to say in an effort like this, he told reporters after the defeat.

The tone of Ohio Republicans has been very different this past week as voters slam their attempt to impose hurdles on passing amendments to the state constitution, a proposal that would have made it much more difficult to pass an abortion rights measure in November. to approve, firmly rejected.

At an election night press conference, Republican Senate President Matt Huffman vowed to use the powers of his legislative majority to quickly bring back the issue, blaming various ways on dark money outside the state, unsupportive fellow Republicans, a lack of time and the complexity of the issue. for its failure.

He never said he respected the will of the 57% of Ohio voters in both Democratic and Republican counties who voted “no” to the Republican proposal.

The striking contrast illustrates a growing antagonism among elected Republicans across the country against the nation’s purest form of direct democracy, the citizen-initiated ballot measure, as it threatens their hold on power in states where they control the legislature.

Historically, attempts to undermine the citizen vote process have come from both parties, said Daniel A. Smith, a professor of political science at the University of Florida.

It has to do with which party has monopolistic control over state legislatures and the governorship, he said. When you have that monopoly of power, you want to limit the vote of an electorate statewide, which goes against your efforts to control the process.

According to a recent report by the nonpartisan Fairness Project, Ohio and five other states where Republicans control legislatures—Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, and North Dakota—have either passed, attempted to pass or are currently working to pass the expanded voter supermajority requirements. votes statewide.

At least six states, including Ohio, have attempted to increase the number of counties that must collect signatures.

The group found that at least six of the 24 states that allow ballot initiatives have banned out-of-state petition spreaders and nine have banned paid spreaders altogether, the group reports.

Eighteen states have required circulators to swear that they put every signature in writing. Arkansas has imposed background checks on circulators. South Dakota has dictated such a large font size on petitions that distributing them becomes cumbersome.

Sarah Walker, director of policy and legal advocacy for the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, said Republicans in Ohio and elsewhere are limiting the ballot initiative process in an era of renewed populism that is not going their way. She said conservatives had no interest in changing the ballot initiative process when they won campaigns in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Since then, you’ve seen left-wing organizations really develop their organizational skills and start winning, she said. The reason given for restricting the ballot initiative is often to isolate the state from outside special interests. But if lawmakers are interested in limiting that, there are things they can legally do to limit those groups, and I don’t see them having any interest in doing so.

Aggressive positions taken by Republican supermajorities at the Ohio Statehouse, including supporting one of the country’s toughest abortion bans, refusing to pass many of the gun control measures proposed by a GOP governor in the face of a deadly mass shooting, and repeatedly producing unconstitutional political maps would be motivated reformers.

That prompted an influential mix of Republican politicians, anti-abortion and gun rights groups, and business interests in the state to push ahead with Tuesday’s failed amendment, which would have raised the threshold for future constitutional amendments from a simple majority to a supermajority of 60%. .

Another example is Missouri, where Republicans plan to try again to raise the threshold to amend that state’s constitution during the legislative session beginning in 2024 after previous attempts failed.

Those plans come in a state where state legislators refused to fund a Medicaid expansion that voters approved until forced to do so by a court order, and where voters enshrined marijuana in the constitution last fall after lawmakers failed to do so. A question about abortion rights is headed for the 2024 Missouri vote.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is among the Republicans in the state who cast No. 1 as fighting against out-of-state special interests, even though both sides of the campaign were heavily funded by such groups.

He called the $20 million special election just one battle in a long war.

Unfortunately,” he said, “we were dramatically spent by black money billionaires from California to New York, and the giant for sale sign still hangs on the Ohio Constitution, said LaRose, who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2024 .

Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, said Ohio Republicans’ promise to come back with another effort to limit the legislative process says more about representative democracy than direct democracy.

She rejected the narrative that out-of-state special interests are using the path of direct democracy to force unpopular policies into state constitutions, arguing that corporate influence is much greater over state legislatures.

The place least out of state is direct democracy, because that’s when millions of Ohioans participate, not just the few dozen who receive campaign contributions from corporate PACs, who receive perks and meetings, and get round-the-clock clout from corporate PACs. she said.

Ballot measures ensure that issues important to working families actually get on the agenda in a state, rather than the agenda being set by those who can afford lobbyists and campaign contributions.