192
Opinion of the Court
1494, 1500-1501 (CA11 1996) (upholding single subject and unambiguous title requirements for initiative proposals to amend Florida's Constitution), cert. denied, 519 U. S. 1151 (1997); Taxpayers United For Assessment Cuts v. Austin, 994 F. 2d 291, 293-294, 296-297 (CA6 1993) (upholding Michigan procedures for checking voters' signatures on initiative petitions).11 We have several times said "no litmus-paper test" will separate valid ballot-access provisions from invalid interactive speech restrictions; we have come upon "no substitute for the hard judgments that must be made." Storer, 415 U. S., at 730; see Timmons, 520 U. S., at 359; Anderson, 460 U. S., at 789-790. But the First Amendment requires us to be vigilant in making those judgments, to guard against undue hindrances to political conversations and the exchange of ideas. See Meyer, 486 U. S., at 421. We therefore detail why we are satisfied that, as in Meyer, the restrictions in question significantly inhibit communication with voters about proposed political change, and are not warranted by the state interests (administrative efficiency, fraud detection, informing voters) alleged to justify those restrictions.12 Our judgment is informed by other means Colorado employs to accomplish its regulatory purposes.
III
By constitutional amendment in 1980, see Colo. Const., Art. V, § 1(6), and corresponding statutory change the next
11 Nothing in this opinion should be read to suggest that initiative-petition circulators are agents of the State. Although circulators are subject to state regulation and are accountable to the State for compliance with legitimate controls, see, e. g., Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 1-40-111, 1-40-130 (1998), circulators act on behalf of themselves or the proponents of ballot initiatives.
12 Our decision is entirely in keeping with the "now-settled approach" that state regulations "impos[ing] 'severe burdens' on speech . . . [must] be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest." See post, at 206 (Thomas, J., concurring in judgment).
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