California and Ohio were ground zero for efforts to change election laws related to redistricting through referenda and both went down to defeat. Moreover, in Ohio, efforts to expand absentee voting, reform how elections are governed in the state, and make campaign finance reforms all went down to defeat as well.

Groups supporting the redistricting reform were planning to push for similar reforms next year in Florida and Massachusetts, but now are planning only to engage in activities in Florida. According to the Associated Press, these reforms are proving to be difficult to sell to partisans, especially Republicans.

Given how few seats will be competitive in next year’s House races, it is not suprising to see why members of both parties like the status quo–it gives guaranteed job security, even for those in the minority.