Voters in a handful of states will weigh in on ballot measures this year that could raise the thresholds needed to pass state constitutional amendments, making it significantly harder for voters to enact policy changes themselves.

Voting rights advocates warn these measures could stifle direct democracy and give minority views outsized power.

Kelly Hall — executive director of the Fairness Project, a nonprofit that backs ballot measures that promote social and economic justice — said severe limits on constitutional amendments have become a trend.

“The theme of 2026 is the battle over direct democracy availability itself,” she told NPR. “This is a really powerful tool … and one of the most frequent topics that we will see voted on this November is, can voters continue to exercise that right meaningfully?”

But Republican lawmakers pushing for these changes say a simple majority threshold makes amending their state constitution too easy — and thus too frequent of an occurrence.

In North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah, voters will consider measures to raise the threshold for approval of a constitutional amendment from a majority to 60% of the vote. In Utah, the change would only apply to tax-related proposals. (California will also vote on a measure to raise the approval requirement for certain local tax issues.)

Quentin Savwoir — the director of programs and strategy at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which works to pass progressive ballot measures — said these efforts to raise vote thresholds are the “antithesis of democracy.”

“What we all learn in our American public education system is that our democracy is anchored in majority rule,” he said. “I understand ‘majority’ to be 50% plus one. But when extremist lawmakers decide that they don’t like progressive policy, when they decide that they don’t like the thing that’s going to materially enhance someone’s life, then they start to change the goal posts.”

Currently, 26 states allow citizens to place ballot measures before voters. But only one — Florida — requires 60% approval for amendments.

This higher threshold has kept various measures from passing in Florida, including an effort in 2024 that would have enshrined the right to an abortion in the state constitution. That year, the measure got approval from 57% of voters, but failed.