Citizens in Charge

Like other areas of American law, the regulations surrounding the ballot initiative process are heavily affected by court decisions. Oftentimes a regulation is listed in the initiative statutes, but it has been struck down or altered by a state or federal court. In the past courts have struck down bans on paying petition circulators, paying circulators by the signature, requiring circulators to be state residents, requiring signatures be gathered over a certain geographical area, and several other restrictions.

You can read the decisions in some of the most important cases affecting initiative law in our Important Court Cases section.