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States without initiative or referendum

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Types of ballot measures
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Initiated
• Initiated constitutional amendment
• Initiated state statute
• Veto referendum
Legislative
• Legislative constitutional amendment
• Legislative state statute
• Legislative bond issue
• Advisory question
Other
• Automatic ballot referral
• Commission-referred measure
• Convention-referred amendment
Select a state from the menu below to learn more about that state's types of ballot measures.

In the U.S., 24 states do not provide for statewide citizen-initiated ballot measures. However, municipal and local governments provide for local initiatives in some of these states.

Below is a list of those states that do not provide for statewide citizen-initiated ballot measures.

States with initiative and referendum

See also: States with initiative or referendum

The following 26 states have an initiative process, referendum process, or both at the statewide level. Washington, D.C. also has an initiative and referendum process.

Note on Mississippi:

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. As a result, the process remains part of the state constitution but cannot be carried out in practice.[1]

Map of states

The following is a map of the 26 states and information on the different types of citizen-initiated measures in these states:

Current signature requirements for citizen-initiated ballot measures

There are 26 states that provide citizens with the power of initiative, referendum, or both. The following table shows the type of citizen-initiated ballot measures in each of those states. The table also provides the signature requirements for each type of measure for the 2025-2026 election cycle.

States that provide for types of citizen-initiated measures and current signature requirements
State Constitutional Signatures Statute Signatures Referendum Signatures
Alaska No N/A Yes 34,098 Yes 34,098
Arizona Yes 383,923 Yes 255,949 Yes 127,975
Arkansas Yes 90,704 Yes 72,563 Yes 54,422
California Yes 874,641 Yes 546,651 Yes 546,651
Colorado Yes 124,238 Yes 124,238 Yes 124,238
Florida Yes 880,062 No N/A No N/A
Idaho No N/A Yes 70,725 Yes 70,725
Illinois Yes 328,371 No N/A No N/A
Maine No N/A Yes 67,682 Yes 67,682
Maryland No N/A No N/A Yes 60,157
Massachusetts Yes 74,490 Yes 74,490 Yes 37,245[2]
Michigan Yes 446,198 Yes 356,958 Yes 223,099
Mississippi[3] Yes 106,190 No N/A No N/A
Missouri Yes 170,215[4] Yes 106,384[4] Yes 106,384[4]
Montana Yes 60,241 Yes 30,121 Yes 30,121
Nebraska Yes 126,838 Yes 88,787 Yes 63,419[5]
New Mexico No N/A No N/A Yes 92,829[6]
Nevada Yes 102,362 Yes 135,561 Yes 102,362
North Dakota Yes 31,164 Yes 15,582 Yes 15,582
Ohio Yes 413,487 Yes 248,092[7] Yes 248,093
Oklahoma Yes 172,993 Yes 92,263 Yes 57,664
Oregon Yes 156,231 Yes 117,173 Yes 78,115
South Dakota Yes 35,017 Yes 17,508 Yes 17,508
Utah No N/A Yes 140,748 Yes 140,748
Washington No N/A Yes 308,911 Yes 154,456
Wyoming No N/A Yes 40,669 Yes 40,669

See also

Foot notes

  1. ↑ Mississippi Supreme Court, "In Re Initiative Measure No. 65: Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler V Michael Watson, in His Official Capacity as Secretary of State for the State of Mississippi," May 14, 2021
  2. ↑ This was the number of signatures required to put a targeted law before voters. To suspend the enactment of the targeted law until the election, the requirement was 49,660 valid signatures.
  3. ↑ On May 14, 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision stating that it is impossible for any petition to meet the state's distribution requirement and has been impossible since congressional reapportionment in 2001. The six justices wrote, "... Whether with intent, by oversight, or for some other reason, the drafters of [the constitutional signature distribution requirement] wrote a ballot initiative process that cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress. To work in today’s reality, it will need amending—something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court."
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 This is the minimum required if signatures are collected in the congressional districts with the lowest numbers of votes cast in 2020. The signature requirement varies based on what districts are targeted for signature collection.
  5. ↑ To suspend the enactment of the targeted law until the election, the requirement is 126,838 valid signatures.
  6. ↑ This is the number of signatures required to put a targeted law before voters. To suspend the enactment of the targeted law until the election, the requirement is 232,072 valid signatures.
  7. ↑ This is the requirement for two rounds of signatures to get an initiated statute on the ballot; half the number of signatures—124,046—is required to place the initiative before the legislature.
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