A referendum is when the citizenry vote on a piece of legislation that has been passed by the legislation. This 'veto' power allows for citizens to have a greater say in their government. However, referendums only work if they are brought to ballot by dedicated individuals and volunteers who collect the necessary signatures.
Referendums can veto unpopular bills. For example, if a legislature tries to pass a very partisan district map, then the people can step in to veto it on the ballot. The referendum is a very powerful tool to keep government accountable.
A referendum needs a certain number of signatures to be placed on the ballot. You can learn all the details about gathering those signatures on our signatures page.
You can learn how to make your own referendum, look at our list of current petitions and submit your own, and use our maps to volunteer to sign petitions or to find other volunteers.
First, look at the signatures page to learn about creating your own petition. If you would rather sign other petitions, you can put your location on our interactive map.
This website was made by Aviva Bechky, Bracklinn Williams, Lillian Zhou, and Terrence Wong. They are freshmen at Blair High School. This website was created at the BlairHacks #hackthebeltway event in order to help serve the local community.