Utah Voters Reject Tax-Based Ballot Initiative Supermajority

Utah voters rejected Amendment B on November 3, 2026, defeating a proposal that would have raised the approval threshold for citizen-led tax initiatives from a simple majority to a 60% supermajority. The Associated Press projected the measure failed with 62% of votes against it and 38% in favor, based on more than 595,000 preliminary votes.

Utahns Protecting Our Constitution led the opposition, spending over $3 million to defeat the measure. Opponents, including former state legislator Phil Lyman and Elizabeth Rasmussen, argued the amendment was a power grab that stripped constitutional rights from citizens while leaving the legislature's own taxing authority untouched. They noted that previous successful initiatives, such as the 2018 Medicaid expansion, would have failed under the proposed threshold.

Supporters, including Republican lawmakers and the Utah Taxpayers Association, framed the amendment as a necessary safeguard. State Senator Lincoln Fillmore and State Representative Jason Kyle argued that raising taxes should require broad consensus rather than a slim majority. Other supporters, such as Rusty Cannon, maintained that a 60% hurdle was a fair requirement for any policy seeking to increase taxes.

Concurrent with the tax vote, citizens decided on Amendment A, which sought to modernize public notifications for constitutional amendments by replacing physical newspaper requirements with digital notices. Final results for the election will be certified by the state's board of canvassers on November 23.