Would a panel of 5 judges be preferable when deciding cases involving state wide referendums?

It is the judicial branch's purpose to rule on the constitutionality of any law or referendum. If a sitting judge issues a ruling then there is an appeals process. All the way to the supreme court. However, appellate courts don't have to hear a case if they determine that the lower court made the correct ruling. The supreme court for instance receives about eight hundred cases each year but only hears oral arguments on about eighty of those.