Skip to content

Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024

Can Texas residents place a statewide referendum on the ballot?

Georgie London, Fort Worth Report
no

Texas does not give citizens the power of legislative initiative or referendum.

The initiative process allows citizens to place proposed statutes and constitutional amendments on ballots without involving state legislators in 24 states.

Another process is the popular referendum. Twenty-three states have this process, which allows voters to approve or repeal legislative acts.

However, rules for petition and referendum vary at the local level. 

Counties only have the powers given to them by the state. 

Only home rule cities, municipalities with a charter, have the power of referendum and initiative.

See a full discussion of this at Fort Worth Report

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

The Fort Worth Report is a 501(c)(3) organization that launched April 12, 2021. This new media outlet is built on a foundation of local leadership and local investment. It provides community-sourced journalism that exclusively supports and reports on the Fort Worth community with fact-based, thoughtful and contextual coverage without bias or predetermined agendas. The enterprise is governed by a mission statement, bylaws, and an organizational structure that ensures it remains faithful to these foundational principles.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.