Those voters' wishes expressed in polls even trumped the voters' own wishes as expressed at the ballot box (since the essence of term limits was to limit the voters' right to vote for whom they wanted).
The ballot box was off limits to voters so they could not express their opinions. 
mnli hypothesis: The ballot box was off limits to voters so they could not express their opinions.  premise: Those voters' wishes expressed in polls even trumped the voters' own wishes as expressed at the ballot box (since the essence of term limits was to limit the voters' right to vote for whom they wanted).