Twenty-six states provide for an initiative or referendum process that allows citizens to collect signatures to place an initiative on the ballot to propose a new law, amend an existing law, or reject a law passed by their state legislature.
State constitutions and statutes provide the frameworks that govern a state’s direct democracy process, including the number of required signatures and deadlines, petition formatting rules, ballot language guidelines, conditions for petition circulators, and other regulations.
Ballot measure laws proposed and enacted in 2024
In 2024, state legislatures proposed 334 bills related to direct democracy processes, including the initiative, referendum, and recall process. Of these, 40 bills were enacted—11.98% of the proposed legislation.
Between 2018 and 2023, an average of 35 bills were enacted each year to change initiative, referendum, or recall procedures.
Ballot measure law changes, 2018-2024
From 2018 to 2024, state legislatures introduced 2,147 bills related to direct democracy, with an annual average of 307 bills proposed each year. On average, states enacted 43 proposals in total each year. The number of proposed bills ranged from a low of 218 in 2020 to a high of 385 in 2023. During this period, 246 bills were enacted, with an average annual enactment rate of 11.39%.
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Twenty-six states provide for an initiative or referendum process that allows citizens to collect signatures to place an initiative on the ballot to propose a new law, amend an existing law, or reject a law passed by their state legislature.
State constitutions and statutes provide the frameworks that govern a state’s direct democracy process, including the number of required signatures and deadlines, petition formatting rules, ballot language guidelines, conditions for petition circulators, and other regulations.
Ballot measure laws proposed and enacted in 2024
In 2024, state legislatures proposed 334 bills related to direct democracy processes, including the initiative, referendum, and recall process. Of these, 40 bills were enacted—11.98% of the proposed legislation.
Between 2018 and 2023, an average of 35 bills were enacted each year to change initiative, referendum, or recall procedures.
Ballot measure law changes, 2018-2024
From 2018 to 2024, state legislatures introduced 2,147 bills related to direct democracy, with an annual average of 307 bills proposed each year. On average, states enacted 43 proposals in total each year. The number of proposed bills ranged from a low of 218 in 2020 to a high of 385 in 2023. During this period, 246 bills were enacted, with an average annual enactment rate of 11.39%.
Proposed changes requiring voter approval
Of the 40 enacted bills in 2024, two were constitutional changes that required statewide voter approval to take effect. Another two proposed constitutional changes passed by state legislatures in 2023 were also on the ballot in 2024. The four constitutional changes, which would have had the effect of making initiative and referendum processes more resource-intensive, were rejected by voters and thus will not take effect.
- Arizona Proposition 134 (passed in 2023) was defeated with 58% of voters opposed. It would have created a signature distribution requirement for citizen-initiated ballot measures based on state legislative districts.
- Arizona Proposition 136 (passed in 2024) was defeated with 62% of voters opposed. It would have allowed for challenges to a ballot initiative’s constitutionality within at least 100 days of the election date, rather than typically after the election.
- Colorado Senate Concurrent Resolution 2 (passed in 2024) was defeated with 55% of voters opposed. It would have changed deadlines for filing initiative and referendum petition signatures, thereby removing one week from the total circulation time, to allow one extra week for the secretary of state to certify ballot order and content and election officials’ deadline to transmit ballots.
- North Dakota Constitutional Measure 2 (passed in 2023) was defeated with 56% of voters opposed. It would have established a single-subject rule for initiatives, increased the signature requirement for constitutional initiatives, and required constitutional initiatives to be approved at two elections.
State with the most proposals in 2024
The state with the most enacted changes in 2024 was Utah, which enacted seven bills, though two did not take effect after the state supreme court invalidated them. One of these was a proposed constitutional amendment, Amendment D. The amendment would have provided in the state constitution that the state legislature has the power to amend and repeal citizen initiatives and would have prohibited foreign individuals, governments, or entities from supporting, opposing, or otherwise influencing ballot initiatives. The legislature also passed Senate Bill 4003, which would have taken effect if Amendment D had been on the ballot and approved. SB 4003 would have allowed the state legislature to amend a voter-approved initiative by amending the law in such a way that, “in the Legislature’s determination, leaves intact the general purpose of the initiative.”
Amendment D was challenged in court by the League of Women Voters, who alleged that the ballot language was not certified until two days after the official state deadline according to state law and also alleged that the ballot language was false and misleading. The Utah Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, invalidating the amendment. Therefore, neither of the two proposed measures took effect. Bills that were enacted and effective were designed to provide for the creation of new school districts through initiative petitions, provide for veto referendum powers against local government bond issues, and provide for a process for disabled individuals to sign initiative petitions with an alternative signature verification process.
Court Rulings Affecting Initiative Processes in 2024
In 2024, several court rulings impacted initiative processes in multiple states:
- Reynolds v. Thurston (Arkansas): The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that it could not review the sufficiency of ballot titles for initiatives before the Secretary of State issues a statement of sufficiency affirming that enough valid signatures were submitted. This decision dismissed a lawsuit filed by two ballot question committees seeking preemptive approval of their initiatives’ ballot titles. The court also declined to overturn a state law requiring signature distribution across 50 counties rather than 15.
- Advance Colorado v. Griswold (Colorado): The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of Colorado House Bill 1321 (2021), which requires ballot titles for tax-related initiatives to include a list of public programs potentially affected by the measure. The court determined that this requirement constitutes government speech and does not violate the First Amendment.
- Mothering Justice v. Michigan: The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the legislature’s practice of adopting citizen-initiated statutes and amending them within the same legislative session violates the state constitution. The decision restored the original text of two 2018 initiatives on minimum wage and paid sick leave, with implementation scheduled for February 2025.
- Montana Rulings:
- In Mae Nan Ellingson v. Montana, the Montana First Judicial District Court invalidated a $3,700 filing fee for initiative petitions and restrictions on electronic signatures, ruling these provisions unconstitutional.
- In Montanans Securing Reproductive Freedom v. Montana, the court affirmed that signatures from inactive voters must be counted, allowing petitions from three initiatives targeting the 2024 ballot to proceed.
- State ex rel. Dudley v. Yost (Ohio): The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the attorney general’s role in reviewing proposed constitutional amendments is limited to summaries and does not extend to initiative titles.
- Defend Washington v. Hobbs (Washington): The Washington Supreme Court determined that state law requires only signature validation against voter rolls, not addresses.
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