How to Start a Petition to Get Legislation on a Ballot

Video Transcript

""Hello this is Matthew Burbank". Hello my name is Matthew Burbank and I'm an Associate Professor at the University of Utah and I'd like to talk to you a little bit about how to start a petition to get legislation on a ballot. The first thing you want to recognize is that this depends on the state that you live in. So in many states, you can indeed petition to have legislation considered directly by a vote. In other state, it's not possible to do this. So the first thing that you need to know is if it's possible in your state. Again, in some states it's perfectly allowable to do this; in other states it's not allowed to do this and so what you first need to know is can I do this in a state that I live in. In some states, excuse me, such as California or Oregon, it's reasonably common to have state level initiatives on the ballot and generally what you have to do in order to qualify is to meet a minimum number of signatures to get the item that you're interested in on a ballot. And the way that you would find out more about that is to contact the Secretary of State's Office to learn about how many signatures would be required and if there are any limitations on who can sign or who can't sign and that once you know that information, you would then be in a position to begin the process of getting a, an initiative on the ballot in your state."