Laws governing ballot measures in Pennsylvania

Laws governing ballot measures in the U.S.

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Laws governing ballot measures in the U.S.

Changes to laws governing ballot measures

Types of ballot measures

Ballot measure policy topics

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This page provides an overview of resources addressing the laws and procedures that govern statewide and local ballot measures in Pennsylvania, including constitutional amendments and campaign finance regulations.

Explore the links below for more information:

• Types of ballot measures in Pennsylvania
• Amending the Pennsylvania Constitution
• Laws governing local ballot measures in Pennsylvania
• Laws governing recall in Pennsylvania
• Laws governing state constitutional conventions in Pennsylvania
• Campaign finance requirements for Pennsylvania ballot measures
• Changes to laws governing ballot measures in Pennsylvania

Laws governing ballot measures in Pennsylvania

Types of ballot measures in Pennsylvania

• In Pennsylvania, citizens do not have the power to initiate ballot measures at the state level.

• In Pennsylvania, the legislature can refer constitutional amendments, state statutes, and bond measures to the ballot.

• In Pennsylvania, a total of 31 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1985 and 2024. Twenty-nine (29) ballot measures were approved, and two ballot measures were defeated.

Amending the Pennsylvania Constitution

• Pennsylvania became the second state in 1787. The current state constitution was ratified in 1968.

• The Pennsylvania Constitution provides for one mechanism for amending the state's constitution—a legislative process. However, the state constitution does not mention a constitutional convention process, and the legislature has called constitutional conventions in the past. Pennsylvania requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

Laws governing local ballot measures in Pennsylvania

• All of Pennsylvania's seven charter counties have charter amendment by initiative.

Laws governing recall in Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania does not allow the recall of elected officials.

Laws governing state constitutional conventions in Pennsylvania

• The Pennsylvania Constitution is one of eight state constitutions with no mechanism for calling a convention.

Campaign finance requirements for Pennsylvania ballot measures

• Pennsylvania defines any group that spends money or receives contributions in support of or opposition to a ballot measure as a political committee. Groups that receive more than $250 in aggregate contributions must file a statement of organization with the secretary of state within 20 days.

Changes to laws governing ballot measures in Pennsylvania

See also: Changes to laws governing ballot measures

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

See also: Changes in 2025 to laws governing ballot measures

The Pennsylvania State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2025.

See also: Changes in 2024 to laws governing ballot measures

The Pennsylvania State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2024.

See also: Changes in 2023 to laws governing ballot measures

The Pennsylvania State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2023.

See also: Changes in 2022 to laws governing ballot measures

The Pennsylvania State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2022.

See also: Changes in 2021 to laws governing ballot measures

• House Resolution 91: The resolution established a Select Committee on Publication of Constitutional Amendments to examine, investigation, and make recommendations about the process of publishing constitutional amendments in newspapers.

See also: Changes in 2020 to laws governing ballot measures

The Pennsylvania State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2020.

See also: Changes in 2019 to laws governing ballot measures

The Pennsylvania State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2019.

See also: Changes in 2018 to laws governing ballot measures

The Pennsylvania State Legislature did not pass legislation concerning ballot measures in 2018.

See also

State & Local Ballot Measures

Ballotpedia

Measures

• • State ballot measures
• • Local ballot measures
• • Analyses

Topics

• • State ballot measure topics
• • Local ballot measure topics

Law

• • Laws governing ballot measures
• • Changes to laws governing ballot measures
• • Types of ballot measures
• • Ballot measure policy topics

History

• • Historical Ballot Measures (HBM) Factbooks
• • History of ballot measures by topic

Campaigns

• • Campaign finance
• • Endorsements
• • Polls

Footnotes

Laws governing ballot measures in the United States

Laws governing ballot measures

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Changes to laws governing ballot measures

Types of ballot measures

Citizen-initiated ballot measures • Legislatively referred ballot measures • Automatically referred ballot measures • Commission-referred ballot measures • Convention-referred constitutional amendments

Ballot measure policy terms

Glossary of ballot measure policy terms

State ballot measures

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