State law requires a proponent to furnish the Attorney General's Office with the complete text of a proposed initiative measure for preparation of an official title and summary. The proposed measure must be submitted with required certifications, and a $2000 filing fee, which is refunded if the measure qualifies for an election ballot.
The list below indicates proposed initiative and referendum measures that have been submitted to the Attorney General for preparation of the circulating title and summary. When the official circulating title and summary is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent(s) and to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the …
California Assembly Bill 3151 was designed to require the legislative counsel to prepare the ballot title and summary of initiatives instead of the attorney general if they affect the authority of the attorney general. California Assembly Constitutional Amendment 3 was designed to "transfer from the Attorney General to the Legislative Analyst the duty of preparing the title and …
Once a request for a circulating title and summary has been submitted, the Attorney General’s Office will post the text of the proposed initiative measure on their website and facilitate a 30- day public review process during which any member of the public may submit written public comments to the Attorney General’s Office via their website.
Ballot InitiativesWrite the text of the proposed law (initiative draft).Submit initiative draft to the Attorney General for official title and summary. * Active Measures are proposed initiatives. Inactive Measures are withdrawn or failed proposals.
The first step in the process of qualifying an initiative measure is to write the text of the proposed law. Proponent(s) may seek the assistance of their own private counsel to help draft the text of the proposed law, or they may choose to write the text themselves.
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a new policy or specific law, or the referendum may be only advisory.
In California, the two types of initiatives are legislative initiative and popular initiative.
In many U.S. states, ballot measures may originate by several different processes: Overall, 26 US states have initiative and/or veto referendum processes at the statewide level, and all states have at least one form of legislatively referred processes: 49 states have at least a legislatively referred process to amend ...
Part of the Direct Democracy powers added to the California Constitution in 1911. Prop 7 established Initiative and Referendum avenues for voters to circumvent and check legislative process.
In 1911, California voters approved the constitutional processes of initiative, referendum, and recall. Through these processes, voters can adopt a change in law (an initiative), disapprove a law passed by the Legislature (a referendum), or remove an elected official from office (a recall).Sep 27, 2021
Presiding over the Federal Executive Council. Facilitating the work of the Commonwealth Parliament and Government. Dissolving Parliament and issuing writs for a Federal election. Commissioning the Prime Minister; appointing Ministers and Assistant Ministers; and swearing-in other statutory positions.
The REFERENDUM allows citizens, through the petition process, to refer acts of the Legislature to the ballot before they become law. The referendum also permits the Legislature itself to refer proposed legislation to the electorate for approval or rejection.
the "initiative" system in California, for putting laws and constitutional amendments on the ballot for the voters to approve or disapprove. California's Initiative Process is a form of direct democracy in where Propositions are passed by citizen voters that grant power to the people to introduce proposed legislation.
There are 3 types of direct democracy in California which are referendum, initiatives, or propositions that need to get a certain amount of signatures to get them on the ballot, and citizens can recall leaders, governors, etc.
The Rules of the Game: California's Constitution. In the 1849 California Constitution there were no limits on legislative salaries.
Laws governing the initiative process in California. Citizens of California may initiate legislation as either a state statute or a constitutional amendment. In California, citizens also have the power to repeal legislation via veto referendum. The California State Legislature may also place measures on the ballot as legislatively referred ...
In California, approved measures take effect on the fifth day after the secretary of state certifies election results, unless a different effective date is specified by the measure. Prior to June 2018, the default effective date was the day after the election.
California signatures can be checked by random sampling or by a full count, depending on the outcome of the random sample check. If the signatures require a full check, the verification process will take additional time. In 2008, for example, the deadline for submitting signatures for the November ballot was April 21.
a California Assembly Bill 765 was designed to "require that the election for a county, municipal, or district initiative measure that qualifies for the ballot be the next statewide or regular election, as applicable, unless the governing body of the county, city, or district calls a special election.".
Referred amendments require a 2/3 vote of each chamber.
In 2011, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 168, which would have instituted a ban, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the bill. In 2018, the state legislature passed Assembly Bill 1947 to ban paying signature gatherers on a per-signature basis. Gov.
However, a ballot measure may include a clause waiving this protection either entirely or conditionally.
In a special election held on October 10, 1911, California became the 10th state to adopt the initiative process. That year, Governor Hiram Johnson began his term by promising to give citizens a tool they could use to adopt laws and constitutional amendments without the support of the Governor or the Legislature. The new Legislature put a package of constitutional amendments on the ballot that placed more control of California politics directly into the hands of the people. This package included the ability to recall elected officials, the right to repeal laws by referendum, and the ability to enact state laws by initiative.
Once the petition signatures have been verified and the initiative is eligible for the ballot, the Secretary of State will issue a certificate of qualification on the 131st day before the next statewide general election certifying that the initiative measure, as of that date, is qualified for the ballot. (Elections Code § 9033(b).)
The heading of each section of a proposed initiative petition shall be in substantially the following form and must be printed in 11-point or larger roman boldface type (Elections Code §§ 9008, 9009):
An initiative measure approved by a majority vote takes effect the fifth day after the Secretary of State certifies the election results, unless the initiative measure provides otherwise. (Cal. Const., art. II, § 10(a).) If the provisions of two or more measures approved at the same election conflict, those of the measure receiving the highest affirmative vote shall prevail. (Cal. Const., art. II, § 10(b).) The Legislature may amend or repeal an initiative statute by another statute; however, any proposed statute becomes effective only when approved by the voters, unless the initiative statute permits amendment or repeal without voter approval. (Cal. Const., art. II, § 10(c).)
The official summary date, the date the circulating title and summary is sent to the proponent(s) by the Attorney General, is the date the Secretary of State uses to calculate calendar deadlines provided to the proponent(s) and elections officials. (Elections Code §§ 336, 9004.) No petition may be circulated prior to the official summary date. (Elections Code § 9014.)
Proponents are allowed a maximum of 180 days from the official summary date to circulate petitions, collect signatures, and file petitions with county elections officials. (Elections Code § 9014.) If the petition reaches the number of valid signatures required, it will qualify for the next statewide general election held at least 131 days after it qualifies or at any special statewide election held prior to that general election. (Elections Code § 9016; Cal. Const., art. II, § 8(c).) Should proponent(s) wish to qualify for a particular election, they may want to shorten the 180-day circulation period in order to ensure that the proposed initiative measure is certified at least 131 days before that particular election.
The Secretary of State has prepared this Statewide Initiative Guide, as required by Elections Code section 9018, to provide an understanding of the procedures and requirements for preparing and circulating initiatives, for filing sections of the petition, and describing the procedure of verifying signatures on the petition. This Guide is for general information only and does not have the force and effect of law, regulation, or rule. In case of conflict, the law, regulation, or rule will apply. Interested persons should obtain the most up-to-date information available because of possible changes in law or procedure since the publication of this Guide.
On June 23, 2020, the campaign sued the state to extend the deadline to file signatures beyond July 6, 2020. The lawsuit asked the court to extend the deadline until all California counties had moved into the third reopening stage following the coronavirus stay-at-home order or by at least 90 days.
Petitions are allowed to circulate for 180 days from the date the attorney general prepares the petition language. Signatures need to be certified at least 131 days before the general election. As the verification process can take multiple months, the secretary of state provides suggested deadlines for ballot initiatives.
As of April 2021, 35 states enforced (or were scheduled to begin enforcing) voter identification requirements. A total of 21 states required voters to present photo identification at the polls; the remainder accepted other forms of identification. Valid forms of identification differ by state.
Counties were not required to report the number of valid signatures according to the random sample until March 9, 2021, due to a coronavirus-related executive order. On March 9, the random sample of signatures did not project that 110% or more of the signatures were valid.
Beginning in 2030, the fee would be adjusted based on changes in the California Consumer Price Index. Revenue from the tax would be distributed to CalRecycle, the California Natural Resources Agency, and local governments.
State statute. Origin. Citizens. The California Plastic Waste Reduction Regulations Initiative has qualified for the ballot in California as an initiated state statute on November 8, 2022 .
Some states require interim reports in response to contributions of a certain size in addition to scheduled reports. It is not uncommon for reports to be filed late for a given campaign finance deadline.
The Initiative Process in California. Californians are increasingly turning to the initiative process to make public policy. In 1911, California became the tenth state to enact the citizens’ initiative process. Today, 26 other states have an initiative or referendum process.
In recent PPIC Statewide Surveys, a strong majority of likely voters (72%) said it is a good thing that voters can make laws and change public policies by passing initiatives.