Citizen Initiatives and Measures

20 August 2007

Ballot measures, including initiatives and referendums, give voters an opportunity to enact or repeal laws, endorse proposed laws, determine how funds will be raised or spent and approve or reject potential amendments to the state constitution. Some states also use ballot measures to seek the recall of an elected official, as in California, where in October 2003 voters decided that Governor Gray Davis should not remain in office. Arnold Schwarzenegger succeeded Davis.

The most common ballot measures are initiatives, which in 24 states allow citizens to vote on proposals that have garnered a set number of signatures on a petition. In eight states, petitions for legislative action first are submitted to the state legislature, which can choose to act on the petition or allow the voters to decide.

Each state has its own rules governing how ballot measures are placed before the voters, but there are many common requirements. For example, each state has requirements about how many petition signatures are needed for the initiative to be placed on the ballot. The required number usually is based on a percentage of votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. The average number of signatures required is 7.23 percent of those votes for a legislative initiative and 9.17 percent for a constitutional amendment, according to the institute.

The average number of ballot measures has increased over the past 20 years, said John Matsusaka, president of to the Initiative and Referendum Institute, part of the University of Southern California School of Law, in an interview with USINFO.

Ballot measures often can be a good indicator of how strongly the electorate feels about an issue. If support for an issue turns out to be stronger than expected, state and national lawmakers would take notice, Matsusaka said. Because of the potential for national impact, "some groups deliberately use the initiative process to jump-start the legislative process and send signals to national lawmakers," he added. A ballot measure's popularity also could affect a race for political office by increasing voter participation.

There is no provision for nationwide ballot measures in the United States. Although many opinion polls show this would be popular, Matsusaka said, it would take an amendment to the U.S. Constitution for this to be an option.

Between 1904 and 2006, some 2,231 initiatives have appeared on state ballots; 41 percent of those were approved by the voters, according to the institute's data.

The 2006 Mid-Term Election
In the 2006 general election, 204 ballot measures went before voters in 37 states -- an increase from the 162 ballot measures that Americans voted on in 2004.

The more than 200 propositions that appeared on ballots in 2006's midterm elections covered a wide range of topics, including funding education, establishing lotteries and changing immigration laws.

The most common issues appearing on ballots in 2006 were state constitutional amendments dealing with gay marriage and with eminent domain (the government’s right to seize private property). Seven states approved ballot measures that defined marriage as between one man and one woman; bringing the total of states that have banned gay marriage to 23. In the same election, Arizona became the first state to reject such a measure. Eleven states had ballot measures on eminent domain – nine of which passed.

How states spend certain funds is commonly an issue on which citizens vote. For example, in Florida voters approved an initiative that requires the state to use tobacco settlement money on a public relations campaign to prevent teen tobacco use. Several states also considered raising cigarette taxes and allocating that money to tobacco prevention and education. These proposals passed in Arizona and South Dakota, but failed in California and Missouri.

Among the more unusual ballot measures in the last election season was Arizona's Voter Reward Act initiative, which would give $1 million to a randomly chosen voter after each election as a way to encourage voter turnout. It failed, with 67 percent of Arizona voters voting against it.

Reprinted from US Department of State