California: A Century of the Statewide Initiative and Referendum

A Pennsylvania-born doctor, John Randolph Haynes, who moved to Los Angeles and became involved in politics, had read of Swiss direct democracy. Haynes and his allies convinced Los Angeles to adopt the tools of direct democracy in city elections in 1902. In San Francisco, then the largest city in California, a movement to clean up corruption blossomed after the 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed that city. A San Francisco attorney named Hiram Johnson, who had been one of the prosecutors of corrupt local officials after the quake, ran for governor in 1910 and unexpectedly won. In office, Johnson convinced voters to adopt the initiative, the referendum and the recall in a 1911 special election.

John Randolph Haynes / William Simon U’Ren (Image Credits: John Randolph Haynes, ca. 1905. Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles)

Oregon: Forging Reform

Oregon voters approved a constitutional amendment establishing the citizens’ initiative and the popular referendum in 1902. They adopted the recall in 1908. The adoption was the triumph of a popular movement led by William Simon U’Ren, a blacksmith and lawyer who became a dominant political figure in the state. “Blacksmithing was my trade and it has always given color to my view of things,” U’Ren would later say. “I wanted to fix the evils in the conditions of life. I couldn’t. There were no tools. We had tools to do almost anything with in the blacksmith shop; wonderful tools. So in other trades, arts and professions… in everything but government.” The initiative and referendum became so closely associated with Oregon that many Americans came to know direct democracy as “The Oregon System.”

How to Pursue an Initiative in California

You begin by drafting the initiative. You can do this yourself, hire private lawyers, or seek assistance from the state’s Legislative Counsel. The text must be filed with the state attorney general’s office along with a $200 fee. The attorney general provides a title and summary within 15 days–longer if the initiative sponsor amends the measure or if a fiscal analysis is required. Legislators may hold hearings on an initiative and may suggest changes–but they cannot change it or offer a direct, Swiss-style counter-proposal. You have 150 days to complete signature collection–one of the shorter time requirements in American states. Each initiative, once qualified, is placed on the next statewide election ballot, along with state and local candidate elections, as long as the next election is no sooner than 131 days in the future. Qualification standards are based on the number of votes in the most recent gubernatorial election. A number of signatures equal to 5 percent of those votes is enough to qualify an initiative statute (currently 504,742); the standard is 8 percent for a constitutional amendment (807,587 is the current number). California signatures are turned into local county clerks, who handle verification using random sampling. If the random sampling leaves doubt as to whether there are enough signatures, a full count and verification of every signature may be ordered. An initiative statute or amendment is enacted if it wins a majority of those voting.

Seals of the States of California and Oregon

How to Pursue an Initiative in Oregon

You start by filing the initiative with the Secretary of State’s office, which forwards a copy to the Oregon Attorney General. Once you have submitted 1,000 signatures on the initiative, the attorney general will write a ballot title and summary. There is a 10 business-day period for public comment, and a fiscal impact statement for some initiatives. You may also ask the Oregon Supreme Court to change the wording of the title and summary if you don’t like it. Then, signatures. As in California, the number of signatures to qualify is tied to the number of votes cast in the state’s most recent gubernatorial election. The number for qualifying a statute is 87,213, or 6 percent of votes cast for governor in the most recent election. The number for qualifying a constitutional amendment is 116,284, or 8 percent. Oregonians have up to two years to gather signatures. The groundbreaking Citizens Initiative Review process, unique among American states, allows the convening of citizens to study initiatives. An initiative statute or constitutional amendment is enacted if it wins a majority vote. The legislature may amend an initiative statute by a simple majority.

A Favored Tool

Both states permit citizens to reverse some legislative acts by popular referendum. But this tool is used relatively rarely in these and other Western states—at least compared to the use of the initiative. In California, for example, fewer than 85 statewide referendums have been filed during the first century of direct democracy. By comparison, more than 100 initiatives have filed by citizens with the attorney general’s office in a number of recent years.

Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during Proposition 11 campaign. (Image Credit: © Bruno Kaufmann)

More Difficult than an Initiative

In California, a referendum is more difficult to qualify than an initiative. The same number of signatures—more than half a million—is required to qualify a referendum as to qualify an initiative statute, and there is less time to do so (90 days vs. 150 days). In addition, several types of laws are not subject to a referendum, including legislation that is classified as urgent or approved by a two-thirds supermajority, laws that levy taxes or call elections, and appropriations for usual, current state expenses. Oregon’s rules on the referendum are similar to those of California with some important differences. The signature percentage necessary to qualify a referendum, at 4 percent, is lower than the number to qualify an initiative statute (6 percent). And a referendum can be ordered on legislation that is adopted by legislative super majority.