States may limit the subject matter of popular referenda. States may apply a single-subject rule or other restrictions. Twenty-three states have a popular referendum process. Note that all but two of these states—Maryland and New Mexico—also have the initiative process. Four states have no restrictions on what sorts of laws can be subjected to the popular referendum: Arkansas, Idaho, Maine and North Dakota.
Dedications of revenue, appropriations, local or special legislation or laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety. Laws immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health or safety, or for the support and maintenance of the departments of the state government and state institutions. Urgency statutes, statutes calling elections or statutes providing for tax levies or appropriations for current expenses of the state.
Laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, and appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of state and state institutions. Laws making any appropriation for maintaining the state government or for maintaining or aiding any public institution, not exceeding the next previous appropriation for the same purpose.
Laws that relate to religion, religious practices or religious institutions; the appointment, qualification, tenure, removal or compensation of judges; the powers, creation or abolition of courts; the operation of a particular town, city or other political division or to particular districts or localities of the commonwealth; or the appropriation of money for the current or ordinary expenses of the commonwealth or for any of its departments, boards, commissions or institutions.
Laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, and laws making appropriations for the current expenses of the state government, for the maintenance of state institutions and for the support of public schools. Acts making appropriations for the expense of the state government or a state institution existing at the time of the passage of such act.
The secretary of state is prohibited by law from accepting for filing any referendum petition which interferes with the legislative prerogative contained in the Constitution of Nebraska that the necessary revenue of the state and its governmental subdivisions shall be raised by taxation in the manner as the legislature may direct. General appropriation laws; laws providing for the preservation of the public peace, health or safety; for the payment of the public debt or interest thereon, or the creation or funding of the same, except as in this constitution otherwise provided; for the maintenance of the public schools or state institutions; and local or special laws.
Laws providing for tax levies; appropriations for the current expenses of the state government and state institutions; and emergency laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety.
Laws authorizing any classification of property for the purpose of levying different rates of taxation thereon or of authorizing the levy of any single tax on land or land values or land sites at a higher rate or by a different rule than is or may be applied to improvements thereon or to personal property. Such laws as may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, or laws necessary for the support of the state government and its existing public institutions.
Laws related to dedications of revenue, appropriations, local or special legislation or laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety. All states require proponents of a popular referendum to follow guidelines. These guidelines may include an application process, registering a certain number of sponsors, submitting the full text and an explanation of the measure, affidavits, the office or offices to file with, registering a proponent or opposition organization, campaign finance issues and the process for withdrawing a referendum.
Nine states require filing an initial number of signatures of sponsors as part of an application to circulate a popular referendum petition. In 18 states, the application to circulate a popular referendum petition is filed with the chief election officer.
In California, it is filed with the attorney general, and Ohio requires a second filing with the attorney general in addition to the secretary of state. In Arkansas and Maryland, the application is filed with the state election board. State Board of Elections Note: the board is empowered to adopt rules for filing applications, so presumably such applications are filed with the board. Seven states specify a process for withdrawing a popular referendum petition from circulation; the remaining states do not.
May be withdrawn by any of the people authorized to do so in the original application; withdrawal is made via a form prescribed by the secretary of state. Any time more than 70 days before the election, a majority of the committee members may withdraw the petition by writing to the secretary of state.
Any time before the final submission of signatures, the delegated proponents may write to the secretary of state to withdraw. The chief petitioners may withdraw at any time before submitting the total number of signatures for verification. All of the chief petitioners must sign the form to withdraw. May remove no later than days prior to the next general election and at least two-thirds of petition sponsors must sign the form.
The guidelines for the format and content of petitions vary by state. Who writes this varies. Petition sheets will always include space for signatures.
Other requirements may include a legal warning, a statement that the petition circulator is paid, a summary of the proposed measure, the full text of the measure, the county or district where the signature was collected, a warning to signers and more. In some states, the official title of the legislation that is the subject of the referendum appears on the petition. Details on who or which offices writes the title and summary are listed below. A title board, which is comprised of the secretary of state, attorney general and director of the office of legislative legal services.
Petition bears the title of the bill it seeks to repeal, and the secretary of state drafts the ballot title that appears on the petition. Statutes for petition contents for each state are:. Every state includes requirements for the circulators operating in the state. County recorder or justice of the peace.
Cannot have had a penalty for violation of title 16 election laws or title 19 initiative and referendum laws in the past five years, been convicted of treason or a felony and has not been restored to civil rights, or been convicted of any offense related to fraud, forgery or identity theft.
Cannot have been found guilty of a criminal felony or a violation of election laws, fraud, forgery or identification theft. Cannot in the last five years have been convicted of a crime involving fraud, forgery or identification theft or subject to a civil penalty due to an election offense. No registered sex offender may circulate a petition unless the person is in the employ of and under the immediate supervision of another person and under circumstances which preclude any contact with children.
Twenty-two states all except Massachusetts require circulators or proponents to sign affidavits or other sworn statements as to the accuracy or authenticity of the petitions. Some states place restrictions on how sponsors may pay petition circulators.
Five states prohibit sponsors from paying circulators on a per-signature basis. Note: This provision was found unconstitutional by a superior court judge, affirmed by the state supreme court in August Bans on payment-per-signature have met with mixed results in the courts. Federal courts have invalidated payment-per-signature bans in Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio and Washington.
However, the bans in North Dakota and Oregon were upheld by federal circuit courts. Note: This provision was found unconstitutional in July by a Superior Court judge and was later affirmed Aug. Payment on a per-signature basis prohibited; bonuses based on reliability, longevity and productivity are permitted. To place a popular referendum on the ballot, sponsors must gather signatures on petitions.
The states vary in the number and the baseline used to determine the number of signatures required. Some of the states also require signatures to be gathered from across the state, although some of these requirements have been found to be unconstitutional. Most states also include requirements for verifying the authenticity of signatures. Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico have two signature thresholds: The first is sufficient to trigger a referendum vote, and the second, higher amount triggers a referendum vote and also suspends operation of the law in question until the election.
Thirteen of the 23 popular referendum states have geographic distribution requirements for petition signatures. These provisions stipulate that petition signatures must be gathered from multiple parts of the state.
They are an effort to ensure that petition signers do not represent just the interests of heavily populated areas. States with geographic requirements that use entities that are unequal in population, such as counties or even state legislative districts, are more likely to have the requirement challenged in court.
Geographic requirements based on U. House districts, which must be highly equal in population, have been ruled constitutional. Gale, 59 F. Loma ; N. Miller, , F. States vary in how they verify the collected signatures. Some states do not specify a method for verification. The following 11 states use a statistical sampling method to determine if petitions have enough valid signatures:.
Eleven of the popular referendum states specify a procedure by which a person may withdraw their signature from a petition. In most states, this must be done on or before the date the petition is submitted for verification and is done by filing a form with election officials.
The timelines for signature gathering for popular referenda differ significantly from those for initiatives. First, they tend to be much shorter—an average of 90 days. Also, instead of being based on the date of the election, deadlines for filing popular referendum petitions are generally based either on the day the legislature adjourns or on the date the bill that is the subject of the referendum was signed by the governor. Seven states Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio and Oregon allow sponsors extra time to gather additional signatures if the petitions submitted are insufficient.
Petitions must be filed within 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session at which the act was passed. If petitions are insufficient, sponsors may circulate and file a supplementary petition within 10 days of the date that notice was given if 90 days have not expired after the adjournment of the legislative session at which the act was passed. Petitions must be filed by 5 p. Petitions must be filed 90 days after the final adjournment of the session in which it was passed, except when a recess or adjournment shall be taken temporarily for a longer period than 90 days, in which case such petition shall be filed not later than 90 days after such recess or temporary adjournment.
Circulation may begin once the attorney general has drafted a circulating title and summary; petition must be submitted within 90 days after the enactment date of the statute.
Petitions must be submitted not more than 90 days after the final adjournment of the session of the general assembly that passed the bill on which the referendum is demanded. There is a day cure period after a statement of insufficiency is issued by the secretary of state, and proponents may deliver additional signatures during this time. Petitions must be filed not more than 60 days after the final adjournment of the legislative session which passed the bill on which the referendum is demanded.
Petitions must be submitted by 5 p. Petitions may be signed at any time after an act is passed and must be submitted by June 1. Petitions must be submitted not more than 90 days after the law which is the subject of the petition has become law. Petitions must be submitted within 90 days following the final adjournment of the legislative session at which the law was enacted.
Petitions must be submitted no later than 5 p. No later than six months after the adjournment of the legislature which passed the act. This deadline pertains to when counties must submit petitions with verified signatures to the secretary of state.
Petitions must be submitted to counties for verification four weeks before this deadline. Petitions must be filed within 90 days after the legislative session at which the law was passed adjourns either sine die or for more than 90 days. Petition must be filed with county officials not later than 15 days following the primary election. Final deadline is not less than days before the next general election.
Petitions must be submitted not less than four months prior to the next general election. If petition is insufficient, sponsors have 30 days to solicit and obtain additional signatures, submit proof to show that rejected signatures are valid or make the petition more definite and certain. Petitions must be submitted by midnight within 90 days of the date the legislation was signed by the governor and filed with the secretary of state.
If a petition is insufficient, a period of 20 days is allowed for correction. Petitions must be submitted within 90 days after the law is filed by the governor in the office of the secretary of state.
If signatures are determined to be insufficient, an additional 10 days is allowed to gather more signatures. Signature gathering begins on a date specified by the secretary of state and cannot be less than 15 or more than 30 days from the date when all appeals and rehearings have been resolved or have expired. Petitions must be submitted not more than 90 days after the end of the session at which the act was passed.
Petitions carried by paid circulators must be filed on a monthly basis. If the petitions were filed at least days before the election and the submission deadline has not passed, and the signatures are deemed insufficient, petitioners may submit more signatures. Petitions must be submitted within 90 days of the adjournment of the legislature which passed the law.
Petitions must be submitted either before 5 p. Petitions must be submitted not later than 90 days after the final adjournment of the legislature; if that deadline falls on a Saturday, the office of the secretary of state must be open from 8 a.
All 23 popular referendum states require political organizations that support or oppose a ballot measure, often considered political action committees, to follow state campaign finance laws. These include filing reports and designating organization officers. The following is not a legal, comprehensive list of every campaign finance law governing the referendum process in each state but is rather a basic summary and starting guide for where to find relevant statutes.
Registration is required before making an expenditure for or against a ballot measure. Reports are due 30 days before the election, one week before the election, days after a special election and on February 15 for all contributions and expenditures not already reported. Disclosure of advertisements is required. Reports of contributions and expenditures are due quarterly in calendar years without elections.
In calendar quarters with an election, additional reports are due 10 days before the election and 15 days after the election. A ballot question committee includes any person, located within or outside Arkansas, who receives contributions or makes expenditures for the purpose of expressly advocating the qualification, disqualification, passage or defeat of any ballot measure. Must file monthly financial reports with the Ethics Commission.
A statement of organization is required. Semiannual statements of contributions and expenditures are due July 31 and January Pre-election statements must be filed 40 and 12 days before the election. Additional statements for ballot measure committees are due April 30 and October Allowable uses of funds by ballot measure committees are specified at Elec.
Committee must create a "top funders sheet" that is included as part of the petition. Must obtain a petition entity license before circulating petitions or paying circulators. Designated representatives must, within 10 days of filing a completed petition, file a report containing information about paid circulators and any other expenditures made in relation to circulating petitions. A political committee must have a treasurer before receiving contributions or making expenditures.
Political committees must file reports of contributions and expenditures. Reports are monthly during election years and annually in nonelection years. Proponents must file reports of payments made to signature gatherers.
Committees in support or opposition to a ballot measure are treated the same as political action committees. Must file quarterly reports. Also requires full disclosure of campaign staffers.
All campaign finance activity must be conducted through a campaign finance entity. Petition sponsors may not gather signatures without first forming a ballot issue committee. See Elec. Ballot issue committees must file reports of contributions and expenditures on or before the fourth and second Friday immediately preceding a general election and on or before the second Tuesday after a general election.
Additional reports are due on the third Wednesday in January of each year the committee continues in existence. Political committee must file a statement of organization. Disclosure reports must be filed 60 days before the election, on the fifth and 20th day of each month until the election, the 20th day of November after the election and the 20th of January each year.
A committee must file a statement of organization within 10 days of its organization; must include a brief statement identifying the substance of each ballot question supported or opposed by the committee. Campaign statements must be filed by the 11th day before the election, the 30th day after the election, April 25 and July 25 every year and October 25 in odd-numbered years. A statement must be filed by a ballot issue committee supporting or opposing a measure not more than 35 days after the petition is filed.
Must file a statement of organization within 20 days of becoming a committee. Reports of contributions and expenditures must be filed no later than the eighth day before the election, the 30th day after an election and the 15th day following the close of each calendar quarter. Ballot measure committees must also provide an initial disclosure report 15 days after the committee begins raising or spending money, with subsequent quarterly reports until the pre-election report is due.
A report is also due no later than the 15th day after the deadline for filing the referendum petition. A person, committee or political party that pays signature gatherers is required to file the same financial disclosures required under Title 13, Chapter Reports of expenditures and contributions received are required quarterly in nonelection years and monthly, March through November, in election years. There is a principal circulator whose information is publicly available upon request.
Persons involved in a statewide initiative or referendum process are subject to the provisions of the Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act. Records must be kept of contributions and expenditures. When formed as a ballot question committee, it must file campaign statements and other forms with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, all on a set timeline.
The committee must report on Jan. Same must also be reported quarterly on April 15, July 15, Oct. Political committees must file a statement of organization. Reports of contributions and expenditures are due by the 15th of every April and October. In election years, instead of biannual reports, reports are due no later than the second Monday in April, May, September and October, and no later than the Thursday before an election.
A post-election report is due by Jan. Sponsoring committee must file a statement of renumeration prior to circulating signatures if circulators will be paid. The following contribution and expenditure statements must be electronically filed: drafting statement, filed at the time approval is requested to circulate petition; circulating statement, filed at the time petitions are submitted for signature verification; pre-election statement, filed between the 39th and 31st day prior to the election; and year-end statement, filed by Jan.
Prior to receiving a contribution or making an expenditure, a campaign must designate a treasurer by filing with the secretary of state. Reports of contributions and expenditures are due on the 12th day before an election, the 38th day after an election and the last business day of January and July of every year. Reports of contributions and expenditures are due on a quarterly basis.
Within three days of making an expenditure or receiving a contribution, a political committee must file a statement of organization and designate a treasurer.
Electronic reports of contributions and expenditures must be filed according to a specified schedule. If such activity occurs within 30 days of an election, a statement must be filed within 48 hours. Contributions from nonresidents of the state, political committees organized outside the state or an entity that is not filed with the secretary of state for four years preceding the contribution are prohibited.
Ballot measure committees must file pre-primary, pre-general, year-end and, if applicable, supplemental reports in even-numbered years. In odd-numbered years, year-end reports are required. Statements of contributions and expenditures must be filed on Jan. Must file a statement of organization as a political committee within two weeks of organizing or within two weeks of the date the first contribution or expenditure is expected.
Reports of contributions and expenditures are due on the 21st and seventh days immediately preceding an election and the 10th day of the first full month after an election. Out-of-state committees that make expenditures supporting or opposing ballot propositions in Washington are required to file reports. Must file a statement of formation as a political action committee within 10 days of formation. Reports of contributions received and expenditures made must be filed at least seven days before any primary, special or general election.
States decide how the ballot title and summary are created and any requirements for the wording of the measure on the ballot. The official title of the bill that is subject to the referendum appears on the ballot. The descriptive title, which is printed below the official title on the ballot, is written by the secretary of state with the approval of the attorney general. The same ballot title and popular name that appeared on petitions drafted by sponsors is submitted by the secretary of state to the board of canvassers for certification.
Full text is printed on ballot if it is words or less; if it is more than words, the secretary of state drafts a title. The title may be different from the legislative title, but in all cases the legislative title shall be sufficient.
Director of elections, with approval of the state board of canvassers, drafts a statement of purpose of not more than words for the ballot.
A statement of purpose and implication, not to exceed words, and yes-no statements are drafted by petitioners and reviewed and approved by the attorney general.
These serve as the ballot title. The title of the statute or resolution that is the subject of the referendum is printed on the ballot. Proponents submit a suggested popular name, to be approved or disapproved by the secretary of state. Unclear; it seems likely that the same statement drafted by the secretary of state and approved by the attorney general for the petition also appears on the ballot, but this is not specified.
Proponents draft and submit a ballot title in their original filing. The secretary of state submits the title to the attorney general for approval when signed petitions are filed for verification.
The attorney general may approve the title or revise as necessary to comply with the law. Unclear; the statute describing the titling process by the attorney general specifically mentions initiative measures and constitutional initiatives but does not mention popular referenda. Lieutenant governor forwards petitions that are qualified for the ballot to the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, which drafts an impartial title of not more than words summarizing the contents of the proposal.
The ballot title may be distinct from the title of the law that is the subject of the petition. States vary in the way popular referendum questions are posed. Secretary of state drafts ballot language that fairly and accurately explains what a vote for and what a vote against the measure represent; approved by attorney general. The wording on the ballot must read: The legislature passed. Bill No. This bill would concise description.
Should this bill be: Approved. The requirements for an election with statewide ballot measures vary by state. States also decide which election a ballot measure will be voted on and any time restrictions before a measure is placed on a ballot. Citizen initiatives Indirect initiative Legislative referrals Convention referrals. Citizen initiatives Indirect initiative Legislative referrals.
Laws governing ballot measures. Laws governing initiatives. Laws governing recall. Laws governing local ballot measures. Signature requirements. Signature regulations. School bond and tax laws. Laws governing campaign finance. The referendum must take place between 2 and 6 months after the bill is passed. Before the referendum is held, members of parliament prepare arguments for or against the proposed change. These are sent to the Australian Electoral Commission AEC , which is in charge of running federal elections and referendums.
The AEC arranges for the 'Yes' and 'No' cases, along with a statement of the proposed change, to be posted to every Australian on the electoral roll.
On polling day , the voting process is similar to that used for federal elections, in which polling places are set up at schools and other public buildings around the country.
Each voter's name is marked off the electoral roll and they are given a ballot paper. Voters then write 'Yes' or 'No' in a box opposite the proposed change on their ballot paper. A referendum is only passed if it is approved by a majority of voters across the nation and a majority of voters in a majority of states—this is known as a double majority. Territory voters are only counted in the national majority. In Australia, a plebiscite also known as an advisory referendum is used to decide a national question that does not affect the Constitution.
It can be used to test whether the government has enough public to go ahead with a proposed action. Unlike a referendum, the decision reached in a plebiscite does not have any legal force.
Australia has held 2 national plebiscites, in and , relating to the introduction of conscription during the First World War. In the United States, Referendums are not held at a federal level because the United States Constitution does not allow for them; however, Referendums may be held at the state level. A very closely related type of election is known as a plebiscite. The plebiscite is essentially the same as a Referendum; however, there is a major difference. A Referendum is used to change constitutions or legislation or any sort of other written rules.
Taking action after the results of a plebiscite is optional.
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