It’s hard to get a ballot initiative in front of voters in Utah. Proponents of changing state law via direct action by voters must get petitions signed by the equivalent of 10 percent of the number of people who voted in the most recent federal election, or more than 100,000 people, and they must meet that threshold in 26 of 29 of the big, sprawling state’s Senate districts.

Yet organizers and citizen activists in Utah managed to pull off that feat last year for three propositions: legalizing medical marijuana, establishing an independent board to draw legislative district lines and expanding Medicaid to low-income adults. Voters approved all three on Election Day, an impressive showing in a state not known for a progressive populace.

The Republican politicians who run Utah were not about to let this stand.

The majority-GOP state legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert (R) have already scaled back the marijuana and Medicaid initiatives, and changes to the redistricting policy are under consideration.

And now, Utah legislators are considering changing the law to make it even harder to get voter initiatives on the ballot and implemented when they pass. At least some in the Utah legislature don’t want a repeat of what happened in November.

Utah’s elected officials operated entirely within the law in doing these things, as the legislature is permitted to modify voter-approved initiatives. But that’s of little consolation to the everyday Utahns who devoted many hours going door to door collecting signatures, talking about the issues with colleagues, family members, friends and neighbors, and working to get out the vote.

Americans often speak of a disconnect they feel between them and their elected leaders, a sense that the people in power don’t care what they want and don’t listen. Lawmakers swiftly undoing their hard work reinforces the sense of disaffection that pervades American politics, and that sentiment is clear in Utah.

“I was very angry, because the people have spoken. And these people are elected to represent us, not because we think they’re any smarter and they need to do it their way,” said Fridolyn Hicks, 63, of Cottonwood Heights, outside Salt Lake City. “That is just unconscionable, for someone to think, ‘I know better than my constituents,’” she said.

Hicks, a retired mental health care professional, was one of the many volunteers who carried clipboards around the state collecting signatures and campaigned for a chance to extend health coverage to an estimated 150,000 low-income Utahns. She worked with other activists in the Utah Civic Action Network, or UCAN, a Facebook group that has grown into a community of citizen activists.

Scott Bell, a retired mining engineer and co-founder of UCAN, was never active in politics until the 2016 presidential election, when the former Republican volunteered for Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Last year, UCAN organized signature-collectors for five ballot initiatives, including the three that went before voters and passed.

Members of the group gathered about 28,500 signatures, said Bell, 62, of West Jordan, which is outside Salt Lake City. Bell also ran for a state House of Representatives seat last year, losing to the Republican incumbent 54 percent to 46 percent.

Months of hard work culminated in the election night victories, only for Bell to watch as the legislature cast them aside.

“I am infuriated and insulted,” he said. Voters spoke clearly on these ballot initiatives, he said, but “the legislators still turned around and said, ‘No, no, no. We know what’s best for you.’”