NATELSON: BRITAIN ISN’T THE ONLY PLACE WHERE ELITES TRY TO UNDO BALLOT MEASURES
When British citizens voted to leave the European Union, I doubted the British political establishment would allow that decision to stand. Today that establishment is doing everything it can to undermine the Brexit referendum.
Such conduct is not limited to Britain. In the United States also, government officials have a long history of sabotaging ballot measures they don’t like.
The most common method is judicial action. For example, in 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court voided a state ballot measure deciding that sexual orientation was not a special civil rights category. This measure required only that state law treat sexual preferences as it treats most personal characteristics — other preferences, height, weight, allergies, perceived attractiveness, and so forth. Yet SCOTUS upended it, ruling it violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Similarly, in 2015 SCOTUS reversed 30 statewide votes reaffirming — generally by landslide margins — the traditional definition of marriage.
Colorado voters in 1992 authorized TABOR so that citizens would have to say yes or no on tax increases. Over the years voters appreciate this simple and effective check on out-of-control, tax-and-spend politicians. Colorado is one of the best states economically thanks to TABOR.
Power grabs in a republic rarely happen by brute force. They often happen quietly and steadily without fanfare or publicity. Marxist Antonio Gramsci called it “the long march through the institutions.” C.S. Lewis said “…the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” TABOR opponents use this incremental strategy in an effort to undermine TABOR support and enforcement. How do they do this? 
