Referendum
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| Legislative referrals Citizen initiatives |
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In Europe, the term referendum (plural: referendum or referenda) is used to designate what in America is called an initiative. That is, the word refers to a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may be the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. The referendum or plebiscite is a form of direct democracy.
In America, the meaning of the term is narrower. Two distinct kinds of direct democratic votes often get the designation of referendum: veto referendum and legislative referendum. Increasingly, the latter is being called a legislative referral. On Ballotpedia we will use terms as follows:
- Veto referendum. When a state legislature passes a law, and citizens collect signatures to place that law on the general election ballot so that the voters of the state can decide whether to keep it or nullify it. In some states, this is known as a citizen referendum.
- Legislative referral. This is a ballot measure that is placed on the ballot because a state legislature votes to have it appear on the ballot. In other words, no citizen signatures are collected to place the measure on the ballot.
- Initiative. An initiative is a ballot measure that got on the ballot solely because citizens collected signatures. These are also sometimes called "citizen initiatives". Initiatives come in two categories: initiated constitutional amendments and initiated state statutes, or laws.
- Recall. A recall is an effort initiated through citizens collecting signatures. If enough signatures are collected, an officeholder or politician against whom the recall is directed has his or her name placed on the ballot for a recall election. By this means, voters can turn a politician out of office before his or her term would otherwise have expired.
The inclusive term on Ballotpedia is thus plebiscite, with initiative, referendum, referral, and recall all being subsumed by the concept as specific plebiscite actions.
