Editing Popular initiative (section)

===Americas===
==== Brazil ====
In Brazil, a popular law initiative requires two conditions be met before it is sent to the National Congress: signatures from at least 1% of national registered voters and at least 0.3% of the people allowed to vote from each of at least five of the 27 federal unities (the 26 states plus the federal district). If both conditions are met,  Congress is obliged to discuss and vote on holding the initiative.

==== Canada ====
; British Columbia
The Canadian province of British Columbia has a citizen initiative law known as the Recall and Initiative Act.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/96398_00 |title=Table of Contents - Recall and Initiative Act |publisher=Bclaws.ca |access-date=2012-09-14}}</ref>  The original proposal was [[1991 British Columbia recall and initiative referendum|put to voters in a referendum]] held in October 1991 and was supported by over 83% of voters. It was subsequently put into force by the incoming NDP government. Since it came into force in 1995, at least 14 attempts have been made to force the government to either adopt a law or to hold a referendum on the question, but only one has succeeded.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.elections.bc.ca/docs/init/Summary-of-Initiative-Petitions.pdf |publisher=Elections BC |accessdate=2023-04-13 |title=Summary of Initiative Petitions}}</ref> Only one secured the required signatures of 10% of registered voters in each riding throughout British Columbia. Due to this achievement the government held the first referendum under this legislation, in September 2011 on the subject of repealing the [[Harmonized Sales Tax]]. Details of its use in BC are available on the Elections BC website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elections.bc.ca/index.php/referenda-recall-initiative/initiative/ |title=Initiative &#124; Elections BC |publisher=Elections.bc.ca |access-date=2012-09-14}}</ref>

==== United States ====
{{Main|Initiatives and referendums in the United States}}
{{cn span|In the [[United States]], a popular vote on a measure is referred to as a [[referendum]] only when aiming at allowing or repealing an act passed by a state legislature. An initiative may be called a "[[ballot measure]]", "initiative measure", or "proposition".|date=May 2013}}

The United States has no initiative process at the national level, but the initiative is in use at the level of state government in 24 states and the [[List of District of Columbia ballot measures|District of Columbia]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iandrinstitute.org/statewide_i%26r.htm |title=State by state listing of where initiatives and referendums are used |publisher=Iandrinstitute.org |access-date=2011-01-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211180917/http://www.iandrinstitute.org/statewide_i%26r.htm |archive-date=2016-02-11 }}</ref> and is also in common use at the local government level.

[[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article I, Section I]] of the [[United States Constitution]] [[Vesting Clause|vests]] "all legislative powers herein granted" to the [[United States Congress|Congress of the United States]].<ref>United States Constitution, Article I, Section I</ref> Establishing a national initiative procedure would likely require an [[List of amendments to the United States Constitution|amendment to the Constitution]], which would under [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|Article V]] require two-thirds of both houses of Congress or the application of two-thirds of the [[State legislature (United States)|state legislatures]] to propose, and three-fourths of all state legislatures (or conventions in three-fourths of the [[U.S. state|states]]) to ratify. The Constitution itself, pursuant to [[Article VII of the United States Constitution|Article VII]], was ratified by state conventions rather than by a referendum.

Several proposals have been made to institute a national referendum. The [[Ludlow Amendment]], introduced several times to the [[US House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] by [[Louis Ludlow]] of [[Indiana]] between 1935 and 1940, proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would require a national referendum to [[declare war]] except in the case of invasion or attack. The amendment came closest to overcoming a [[discharge petition]] on January 10, 1938, when it was defeated in the House by a vote of 209 to 188, short of the two-thirds vote required for its passage.

Unsuccessful attempts to get initiatives have nevertheless occurred, but since the proposals were bills, not constitutional amendments, no initiative could probably have lawfully been voted on notwithstanding the bills' passage. The first attempt to get national ballot initiatives occurred in 1907 when House Joint Resolution 44 was introduced by Rep. [[Elmer Fulton]] of [[Oklahoma]]; the proposal was never put to a vote. In 1977, both the Abourezk-Hatfield National Voter Initiative and the Jagt Resolutions never got out of committee. Senator [[Mike Gravel]] was part of that effort.

The modern system of [[initiatives and referendums in the United States]] originated in the state of [[South Dakota]], which adopted initiatives and referendums in 1898 by a popular vote of 23,816 to 16,483. [[Oregon]] was the second state to adopt and did so in 1902, when the [[Oregon Legislative Assembly]] adopted it by an overwhelming majority. The "Oregon System", as it was at first known, subsequently spread to many other states, and became one of the signature reforms of the [[Progressive Era]] (1890s–1920s). Almost every state currently in the union utilizes some sort of State Question or Initiative. A contemporary issue that is commonly decided through this method is the [[Timeline of cannabis laws in the United States|legalization of marijuana]].

==== Uruguay ====
In Uruguay, through the "popular initiative", the electorate can present a bill to the [[General Assembly of Uruguay|General Assembly]], a constitutional reform bill to be submitted to a referendum, and a bill to the departmental governments.

Under Article 79 of the [[Constitution of Uruguay|Constitution of the Republic]], with the support of 25% of those registered to vote, a bill can be submitted to the [[General Assembly of Uruguay|General Assembly]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Constitución de la República Oriental del Uruguay, Artículo 79 |url=https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/constitucion/1967-1967/79 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318012427/https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/constitucion/1967-1967/79 |archive-date=2024-03-18 |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=www.impo.com.uy}}</ref> For constitutional amendments, Article 331 establishes that with the signature of 10% of citizens registered in the National Civil Registry, a reform bill can be submitted to the president of the General Assembly and submitted to a vote in the following election in a nationwide referendum.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plebiscitos en Uruguay: ¿Qué son y cómo se llevan adelante? |url=https://www.telenoche.com.uy/nacionales/plebiscitos-uruguay-que-son-y-como-se-llevan-adelante-n5366094 |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=Telenoche |language=es-PA}}</ref>

In addition, at the [[Departments of Uruguay|departmental level]], under Article 305, 15% of registered residents in a jurisdiction determined by law have the right of initiative before the departmental governing bodies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Constitución de la República Oriental del Uruguay, Artículo 305 |url=https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/constitucion/1967-1967/305 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602125137/https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/constitucion/1967-1967/305 |archive-date=2024-06-02 |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=www.impo.com.uy}}</ref>