Citizen initiatives are a safety valve for average voters. When elected legislatures fail to act or act poorly, initiatives can be placed on the ballot and everyone can participate in the process of making or changing laws.

It happened in Idaho last November when a solid majority of Idaho voters killed three propositions that contained the components of public school reform called “Students Come First.” That legislation came as a surprise from Idaho Superintendent of Public Schools Tom Luna and Gov. Butch Otter in 2011. It was rushed into action by an ill-advised Legislature that gave it emergency status.

Voters didn’t approve.

Getting an initiative on the ballot for a final verdict from voters statewide is no small feat. To place a referendum on the ballot in Idaho requires gathering petitions signed by 6 percent of the registered voters in the last statewide election. Anyone interested in placing a proposition on the 2014 ballot would have to gather 53,751 signatures from registered Idaho voters.

In 1997, Idaho required that the 6 percent of registered voters threshold be met in 22 of Idaho’s 44 counties, but a federal court ruled that distribution requirement unconstitutional in 2001. Federal Judge Lynn Winmill found that it violated the 14th Amendment because 60 percent of the state’s population lives in nine counties.

Winmill wrote in his decision that it was “easy to envision a situation where three-fourths of Idaho’s voters sign a petition, but fail to get it on the ballot because they could not collect 6 percent of the vote in rural counties.” His ruling was upheld by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Case closed.

At least until the Idaho Farm Bureau decided to try to pry it open during this legislative session. The bureau has convinced the Idaho Senate to consider changing the signature requirement for initiatives to 6 percent of residents specifically in 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts. The Farm Bureau says it would restore urban-rural balance.

You can bet it would land Idaho back in federal court the next time a group of citizens tries to get an initiative on the ballot. We’re a little puzzled about the move to make participatory democracy more difficult in the Gem State. Initiatives have a long history in Idaho and the system has not been abused. Just two decades after Idaho became a state, the Legislature approved making an amendment to the Idaho Constitution to allow referendums and initiatives. Voters approved it in 1911.

However, the amendment failed to establish the number of signatures required on petitions for such action and correcting the oversight took two more decades.

The first initiative to be placed on an Idaho ballot took place in 1938 when Idahoans approved the establishment of a Fish and Game Commission three to one. It wasn’t until 1954 that voters managed to jump through the required hoops and pass an initiative that banned the mining practice of dredging riverbeds.

Then in 1974, voters took the law into their own hands again and passed an initiative that forced greater disclosure of political campaign contributions and expenditures. That law came in handy this past fall when Secretary of State Ben Ysursa forced the exposure of donors to an effort to pass “Students Come First.” Idahoans found out the big money came from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and large corporations.

In 1982, voters frustrated by property taxes on their homes gave up on the idea of the Legislature providing relief and passed the homeowner’s exemption.

Some industries — mainly timber, mining and farming — reacted by pushing legislation through in 1984 to double the number of signatures required for a citizens’ initiative to get on the ballot. Then Gov. John Evans vetoed it.

Idaho voters have been successful at protecting fish and wildlife, exposing political financing and providing tax relief to homeowners. The process works. Let’s not change it.