Republican senators voted Wednesday to impose new requirements on initiative circulators in a way one Democrat said is designed to make it easier for special interests to quash future ballot measures.

That record number of Arizonans who turned out to vote this year has a dark side for direct democracy: It's going to be harder for voters to propose their own laws or get rid of ones they don't like.

Attorneys for the state are trying to block challengers to newly enacted initiative restrictions from telling their story to a judge. The lawyers contend that the claims of those who contend the new law will harm future petition efforts are "fanciful and not genuine.''

Claiming lawmakers acted illegally, a newly organized group is asking a judge to void a key change in laws governing the right of voters to enact their own laws.

A bid by state lawmakers to take back the power to draw congressional lines is legally flawed and should be rejected, the lead attorney for the Independent Redistricting Commission told the nation’s high court.

For the first time in more than three decades, Arizona voters are not going to get a chance to make their own laws.

A measure asking voters every eight years to reconsider ballot measures that require spending money was approved March 5 by the House of Representatives.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a far-reaching elections bill that will help weed inactive voters from the Permanent Early Voter List, prohibit political organizations from collecting early ballots en masse and impose stricter legal standards on citizen initiatives.

Candidates for office in Arizona have never had an easier time getting on the ballot, but lawmakers are looking to raise the bar for citizen initiatives, referendums and recalls.