Associated Press - Casinos coming soon to a city near you in Ohio, courtesy of a constitutional change. A croupier deals cards during a charity event at the Mountaineer Casino, Race Track & Resort in Chester, W.Va.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Recent changes to the state constitution -- and the threat of further alterations this year -- have some state lawmakers worried that it's too easy to mold Ohio's most important legal document around special interests.

Gambling advocates and the state's farming industry scored victories last November when Ohio voters approved constitutional amendments they endorsed: one authorizing four casinos in Ohio and the other establishing a Livestock Care Standards Board.

But just three months after the election, opponents plan to put revisions to both issues back on the ballot this year through additional constitutional amendments.

The repeated attempts to pass laws by modifying the constitution don't sit well with Ohio Rep. John Domenick, a Democrat from eastern Ohio who has introduced a bill to require a 67 percent supermajority of voters to approve changes to the constitution. Currently, only a simple majority is needed.

"To me, the constitution is a sacred document," Domenick said last week. "We're going in tampering with it all the time."

Domenick's proposal for a supermajority -- which, ironically, would be a constitutional amendment requring voter approval -- is resonating with some lawmakers because of thetwo amendments proposed in recent weeks as countermeasures to the onespassed in November.

Rep. Robert Mecklenborg, the highest-ranking Republican on the House committee hearing Domenick's plan, said the issue is "definitely ripe for discussion."

One of the countermeasures -- to change the location of the Columbus casino -- was put on the May ballot by state lawmakers late last month.

The Columbus casino was planned for a downtown location spelled out in Issue 3, the amendment voters passed in November to legalize gambling and establish casinos at specific places in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Cincinnati.

But Columbus community leaders and residents rebelled and proposed an alternate location, the site of an abandoned auto plant on the city's West Side. The General Assembly listened and put the new amendment on the May ballot.

Although the location change wouldn't affect plans for casinos in the other three cities, voters across the state will vote on it in May.

Going through the General Assembly is one way to get constitutional amendments on the ballot. But when legislators won't do it -- as they did for the Columbus casino opponents -- residents can mount a petition drive to collect signatures and put an issue before voters.

That's what opponents of Issue 2, the farm standards amendment, are doing.

The Washington-based Humane Society of the United States is behind a constitutional amendment that would set minimum standards for the Livestock Care Standards Board, which would dictate what kinds of confinements and treatment of farm animals the state will allow, and what crosses over into animal cruelty. Animal rights advocates are worried that the board created by Issue 2 will not do enough to protect farm animals.

The Humane Society and its supporters are waiting for final approval to begin collecting signatures to put their amendment on the November ballot.

This method of circumventing the legislature irks Domenick because he sees it as a way for outsiders and wealthy interests to fund a campaign to change Ohio laws.

"We have all these groups from out of state telling us how to run the show," he said.

Another example, Domenick said, is Cavaliers owner and Michigan native Dan Gilbert, who led the $47 million petition drive and campaign to legalize casino gambling in Ohio. Gilbert has rights to build the casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Jonathan Entin, a professor at Case Western Reserve University who specializes in constitutional law, said this type of lawmaking doesn't follow the spirit of the state constitution, which is supposed to contain legal principles for lawmakers to follow.

Extremely detailed laws, such as the ones creating the livestock board and legalizing gambling, don't belong, he said.

"I just think it's a bad idea to clutter up the constitution with this kind of detail," Entin said.

But Catherine Turcer, of the government watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action, said the process of amending the constitution is not as easy as some lawmakers portray it.

She opposes the idea of requiring a supermajority because it would hinder one of the last remaining forms of direct democracy -- citizens' ability to gather signatures and put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

"It's like the last tool of ordinary people," she said.

The group that derailed Gov. Ted Strickland's 2009 plan to add video slot machines at Ohio's horse racing tracks is still trying to put the issue before voters in November.

LetOhioVote.org submitted 177,000 signatures to the secretary of state's office on Monday to cover an earlier shortfall of signatures needed to compel an election. The group submitted 214,301 valid voter signatures in December, about 27,000 short of the threshold needed to trigger the election.

The secretary of state's office has to wait for county boards of election to verify the latest signatures before it can certify the referendum.

LetOhioVote, created by three conservative activists, including former Cincinnati-area State Rep. Tom Brinkman, popped up last spring after Strickland proposed adding 17,500 video slots machines at Ohio's seven racetracks as a way to meet a revenue shortfall in the 2010-2011 budget.

LetOhioVote successfully argued before the Ohio Supreme Court that Strickland's plan was subject to a voter referendum, which forced the governor to withdraw it.

As LetOhioVote moves forward, a mystery is growing about who is financing the group.

The group's recent campaign finance report filed with the secretary of state shows it collected nearly $1.6 million from New Models, a Virginia nonprofit.

New Models, which operates out of an office building in McLean, Va., could not be reached. The organization was formed to engage in political activities but is required to only file reports with the Internal Revenue Service. It was behind controversial automated calls to Pennsylvania voters made during the 2008 presidential election. The calls told voters that Barack Obama's aunt was living in America illegally and that he accepted campaign contributions from his "illegal alien aunt," according to a transcript of the call posted on Politico.com

Tim Crawford is president of New Models. He raised money for former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell's 2006 campaign.

LetOhioVote spokesman Carlo LoParo acknowledged that he knows Crawford but said he knows little about New Models.

"LetOhioVote reported all of its contributions as required by law and our organization has met every legal requirement for disclosure for ballot issue committees," he said.