What is the right
of Initiative?
What is the right
of Initiative?
Initiative is the right of citizens to propose laws, or constitutional amendments, for approval (or rejection) by the voters.
Citizens write up the proposed law, obtain comment and guidance on it from the Attorney General and the Secretary of State.
Then hundreds of thousands of signatures of registered voters from all over Texas must be collected on petitions with the proposed law printed on them. This process takes sometimes longer than a year.
If enough valid signatures are collected, the proposal is placed on the general election ballot in November of an even year**, but only after at least five more months of public discussion. The citizens of Texas then determine whether to vote the proposal into law, or to reject it.
**General elections in November of even years are when
the highest percentage of Texas voters turn out to vote.Referendum is right of citizens to force a binding vote of the people on legislation passed by the Legislature.
"For 20 years I preached to the students of Princeton that the Referendum and the Recall was bosh. I have since investigated and I want to apologize to those students. It is the safeguard of politics. It takes power from the boss and places it in the hands of the people."
Woodrow Wilson
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