How a Ballot Measure Becomes a Law

Proponents draft and propose a measure. Proponents must submit their proposal to the attorney general’s office, which obtains a fiscal analysis from the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and then provides the proponent with a title and summary that must be placed at the top of each petition. The proponent pays the attorney general $200, a fee that is refunded if the initiative qualifies for the ballot.
Proponents circulate the measure and gather signatures. Proponents currently need to obtain 373,816 valid signatures (5 percent of the vote in the last gubernatorial election) to place a statutory initiative on the ballot. They need 598,105 signatures (8 percent of the vote in the last gubernatorial election) for a constitutional initiative.

The number of signatures required has declined since 1984—by 20,000 for statutory initiatives and by almost 32,000 for constitutional initiatives. This is because the number of people voting for governor has declined dramatically since 1984, although the number of registered voters has increased by several million. Because California has no geographic requirement for signatures gathered, proponents are free, theoretically, to collect every signature from a single county.
The secretary of state verifies the signatures. The secretary of state, through the county registrar of voters, must verify that the petition has obtained the required number of valid signatures at least 131 days before the next statewide primary, special, or general election.

California, unlike some states, does not mandate that all initiatives appear on the general election ballot when more people participate than in the primary election. Generally, initiatives that appear on the primary ballot have a better chance of approval than those on the November general election ballot.
With 50 percent of the votes, a measure becomes a law. All state ballot measures require a simple majority of those voting on the measure to be enacted. If two measures cover the same subject and they conflict with each other, the measure that receives the most votes prevails in its entirety. None of the provisions of the other proposition, even though not in direct conflict, will go into effect.

go back