A legislative referral (or legislative referendum) is a

referendum 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 ...

in which a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

puts proposed legislation up for popular vote. This may either be voluntarily or, as is the case in many countries for a constitutional amendment, as a

mandatory Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also ...

part of the procedure for passing a law. These referrals, depending on the location, can either amend a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

or enact a change in statute. It is a form of direct democracy. In some places it is known as an authorities referendum, authorities plebiscite, government initiated referendum, or top-down referendum It may originate from the

legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

, executive branch, or a combination of the two. An instrument of direct democracy, it is in contrast to citizens (or "bottom-up")

initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...

that is initiated from the public. With initiated statutes and amendments, voters both initiate and decide on the change of law. In a legislative referral, they only approve or reject laws which their legislature votes to place before them.

United States

Bond issues are a common type of legislatively referred ballot measure. In some states, such as

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, if the state legislature in both chambers vote to put a measure on the ballot, the governor is not allowed to veto their action.

State statute

23 American states have a provision for referring statutory measure to the public as a ballot measure.

State constitutional amendment

Almost all legislatures in states and territories in the United States have the power to put state constitutional amendments to a referendum. In most cases these are mandatory referendums, meaning that a referendum is a legal requirement in order for the amendment to be ratified.

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

is the only state in which the people do not have the power to vote on constitutional amendments. Only the Delaware legislature may vote on amendments.

References

External links

The Legislatively Referred State Statute
as defined on Ballotpedia

Direct democracy Ballot measures Legislatively referred ballot measures {{law-stub

United States

State statute

State constitutional amendment

See also

References

External links