This week's question was, How many states have at least one form of statewide citizen-initiated ballot measure available to voters?

You answered: 26
That's correct!

In the U.S., 26 states provide for a statewide initiative process, referendum process, or both. Washington, D.C. also has an initiative and referendum process. These types of ballot measures are known as citizen-initiated ballot measures.

• The initiative process allows citizens to collect signatures to place a new statute or constitutional amendment on the ballot.
• The referendum process, also called a veto referendum or citizen's veto, allows citizens to collect signatures to ask voters whether to uphold or repeal an enacted law.

Mississippi has an initiated constitutional amendment process, including a signature distribution requirement based on five congressional districts. However, the requirements cannot be met, according to the Mississippi Supreme Court, because the state has four congressional districts following reapportionment in 2001.

Mississippi's House Concurrent Resolution 11 would create a new state initiative and referendum process.

This isn’t the first time Mississippi legislators proposed a new initiative process. The Senate passed a constitutional amendment to re-establish an initiative process during the 2023 legislative session. The House amended and returned it to the Senate. However, the constitutional amendment was not referred to voters because the Senate and House could not agree on a final proposal.

Other states have successfully changed their initiative and referendum rules in recent years, including Arkansas, Arizona, and Wyoming. In 2023, the Arkansas Legislature increased the state's distribution requirement for ballot initiative signatures from 15 of 75 counties to 50 of 75 counties. In 2022 and 2021, respectively, Arizona voters approved Proposition 129, which required citizen initiatives to have a single subject, while Wyoming legislators passed a bill that changed the filing fees for an initiative or referendum from $500 to $1,000.

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