Over a month following the completion of the recent elections, it appears that a voter’s voice is not always the closing statement in some regions of the United States. There are indications of and active moves to change or disregard specific election results, demonstrating a bold defiance of public will by lawmakers in several states.
In North Carolina, for instance, Republican representatives are tactically limiting the power of the impending Democratic governor. A similar scenario is unfolding in Missouri, with Republicans gearing up to overturn the protection of abortion rights, previously ratified by voters. Meanwhile, the Democrats in Massachusetts are quietly weakening an effort propelled by voters to increase legislative accountability.
The events ensuing the November 5 elections only perpetuate a trend that has been gaining momentum over recent years. This trend has been chastised by critics as a breakdown of democratic principles. Anne Whitesell, a knowledgeable assistant professor of political science at Miami University in Ohio, expressed her concern about this undemocratic trajectory.
She expertly identified a range of methods employed by these lawmakers, extending from blatant overturns to ‘slow walking’ the enforcement process of voter-approved initiatives. This latter approach refers to the deliberate stalling of funding allocation, a tactic commonly employed by some Republican governors and lawmakers in response to voters in their states supporting Medicaid expansion consequent to the Affordable Care Act.
This issue was eventually resolved in court, which simultaneously extended the gap between the vote and its execution. North Carolina gives a stark illustration of an authority using power to counteract the expressed will of the population. Assuming no alterations result from pending legislative race protests, voters have severally curtailed the previously dominant Republican rule for the next two years by electing Democrats to multiple state positions, governor, and attorney general included.
In response, Republicans are attempting to transfer control of the state election board to the state auditor, a move that undermines the potency of the governor to fill vacancies within the state court of appeals and supreme court. This is a clear affront to democratic principles and the people’s wishes.
Missouri saw an interesting turn of events after an amendment granting abortion rights was enshrined in the state constitution by voters. In an exceedingly rapid response, the state saw a Republican senator introduce a new constitutional amendment that effectively banned abortions, save in medical emergency circumstances. Such actions demonstrate a disregard for democratic practices.
In Massachusetts, voters enthusiastically endorsed the state auditor’s right to scrutinize the Legislature. However, Democrats, exercising control over both chambers, have argued this vote infringes on the separation of powers principle. This argument was swiftly followed by an approval from House lawmakers to change the procedure for seeking independent financial audits of their conduct.
These engagements reflect an established pattern prevalent after the November election. Another bill is under careful consideration in Ohio’s Republican-dominated Legislature, which could significantly modify a voter-endorsed initiative from the past year permitting recreational marijuana usage. Parts of the proposed alterations include increasing the previously approved tax rate on adult-use cannabis and reducing the agreeable number of home-grown plants per household.
In a similar anti-democratic vein, voters in multiple Texan cities have successfully enacted measures decriminalizing possession of small quantities of marijuana in recent years. Yet, Texas’ Republican attorney general remains steadfast in legal opposition, maintaining the argument that these cities cannot supersede Texas’ stringent marijuana prohibition laws.
In Tennessee, a consistent struggle has been noted between the Republican-controlled Legislature and the more liberal cities of Memphis and Nashville, particularly when it comes to local policy. When Memphis voters embraced ranked-choice voting in 2008 and refused its repeal a decade later, lawmakers bound the state under a ban on ranked-choice voting in 2022.
However, the limitations imposed by the same Republican-majority Legislature on local efforts for police oversight have faced significant hurdles. Nashville voters established a communal supervisory board for their police force, only for it to be dismantled by state legislations. The Utah Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that lawmakers had violated voter constitutional rights following the establishment of a citizen-controlled commission to create new congressional maps.
In a final example of the disturbing trend, voter rights were undermined when Democrats controlling the District of Columbia council voted to repeal a measure that would have increased the minimum wage for servers and other tipped workers, a move previously approved by voters.