Utah voters soundly defeated a constitutional amendment that would have made it harder to pass some ballot initiatives.

Amendment B sought to require 60% of voters to approve a ballot initiative that raises taxes.

At 11:15 p.m., unofficial returns showed the amendment trailing 71% to 29%.

Amendment A, which would remove the constitutional requirement that the text of proposed amendments be published in newspapers, appeared headed for victory, leading 53% TO 47%.

Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, who sponsored Amendment B, said his aim was to protect Utah families already struggling to make ends meet from out-of-state groups pouring money into ballot measures that would increase their taxes.

But opponents, like the group Utahns Protecting Our Constitution, argued that it was an attempt by Republican legislators to chip away at grassroots initiative power that has been in the Utah Constitution for more than a century. If it passed, the group contended, the amendment would “effectively kill ballot initiatives forever.”

Early on, it seemed that amendment proponents were in the driver’s seat. A Noble Predictive Insights poll conducted in early September found that half of voters supported Amendment B, with just 21% opposing it.

But after a campaign blitz by opposition groups, the script flipped. Last week, the same polling firm found that 56% of Utahns opposed Amendment B, while support for the measure had fallen to 34%.

The opposition campaign was fueled largely by $1.7 million from The Fairness Project, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that has pumped millions of dollars over the years into initiatives in multiple states defending abortion rights, ballot access and pro-worker measures.

Supporters of the amendment spent considerably less, with Americans for Prosperity spending about $100,000 and Taxpayer Shield PAC, formed by the Utah Taxpayers Association, spending about $20,000.

As nonprofits that don’t have to disclose donors, both The Fairness Project and Americans for Prosperity are considered “dark money” groups.

Some conservatives, like former Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman, sided with the opposition groups, arguing the amendment would also make it harder to pass initiatives that would lower property taxes.

Since the initiative power was added to the Utah Constitution in 1900, Utahns have passed seven ballot measures. Three passed in 2018, expanding Medicaid coverage for low-income Utahns, banning partisan gerrymandering in political districts and legalizing medical marijuana.

Had Amendment B been in place, the Medicaid expansion and medical marijuana initiatives would have needed 60%. Both barely got over 50%.

Just two initiatives have ever surpassed 60%. One made English the state’s official language; the other limited when law enforcement can seize property in criminal cases.

Amendment A

Amendment A drew no widespread opposition ahead of the election. The Utah Constitution has always required the Legislature to publish the text of proposed amendments in newspapers across the state.

It has not always been complied with, but, in 2024, the Utah Supreme Court invalidated two proposed amendments because they had not been published in the newspapers. Amendment A will allow the text to be published on state websites or however the Legislature deems appropriate.

Heading into Tuesday, voters have rejected just 11 of the 83 proposed amendments that made it to the ballot over the past 50 years.