Ballot measure

A ballot measure is a piece of proposed legislation to be approved or rejected by eligible voters. Ballot measures are also known as "propositions" or simply "questions".

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Ballot measures differ from fewer legislation passed by representative democracies; ordinarily, an elected legislature develops and passes laws. Ballot measures, by contrast, are an example of direct democracy.

An initiative canvassing campaign, Medicaid for Idaho, to put Medicaid expansion on the ballot; the Methodist Cathedral of the Rockies hosted the volunteers[1]

In the United States ballot measures may be established by several different processes which vary amongst the states:[2]

• Initiative, in which any citizen or organization may gather a predetermined number of signatures to qualify a measure for the ballot;
• Popular referendum, in which a predetermined number of signatures (typically lower than the number required for an initiative) qualifies a ballot measure repealing a specific act of the legislature;
• Legislative referral (a.k.a. "legislative referendum"), in which the legislature puts proposed legislation up for popular vote (either voluntarily or, in the case of a constitutional amendment as a required procedure).
• Recall election, in which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before that official's term has ended

In Switzerland, same kind of ballot measures are known as votations.