Statute affirmation
 |
| Initiated |
| •Initiated constitutional amendment |
| •Initiated state statute |
| •Veto referendum |
| Legislative |
| •Legislative constitutional amendment |
| •Legislative state statute |
| •Legislative bond issue |
| •Advisory question |
| Other |
| •Automatic ballot referral |
| •Commission-referred measure |
| •Convention-referred amendment |
Astatute affirmation is acitizen-initiated ballot measure that prevents the Legislature from repealing or amending a statute in the future without a direct vote of the electorate. Nevada is the only state with this type of ballot measure. A statute affirmation is akin to aveto referendum being approved, rather than rejected, in Nevada.
Statute affirmations on the ballot
- See also:2025 ballot measures and2026 ballot measures
The following is a list of statute affirmations certified for the current year and next year:
There are no statute affirmations certified for the current or next year's ballot.
Constitutional provision
- See also:Article 19, Nevada Constitution
The statute affirmation is codified withinSection 1 ofArticle 19 of theNevada Constitution. Section 1, Paragraph 3 says that a statute upheld via an affirmation cannot be amended, annulled, or repealed except with a direct vote.
3. If a majority of the voters voting upon the proposal submitted at such election votes approval of such statute or resolution or any part thereof, such statute or resolution or any part thereof shall stand as the law of the state and shall not be amended, annulled, repealed, set aside, suspended or in any way made inoperative except by the direct vote of the people. If a majority of such voters votes disapproval of such statute or resolution or any part thereof, such statute or resolution or any part thereof shall be void and of no effect.[1]
List of statute affirmations
There have been two statute affirmations in Nevada. One was passed in 1956, and the other was approved in 1990.
| List of statute affirmations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Measure | Description | Yes (%) | No (%) |
| 1956 | Question 8 | Affirmed Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 372, a statute that enacted a 2% state sales tax, and thus prohibited the Legislature from amending or repealing NRS 372 without voter approval | 68.82% | 31.18% |
| 1990 | Question 7 | Affirmed NRS 442.250, a statute that permits abortion up to 24 weeks gestation, and thus prohibited the Legislature from amending or repealing NRS 442.250 without voter approval | 63.47% | 36.53% |
Types of citizen-initiated measures in each state
- See also:States with initiative or referendum
There are 26 states that provide citizens with the power of initiative, referendum, or both. The following table shows the type of citizen-initiated ballot measures in each of those states. The table also provides the signature requirements for each type of measure for the 2025-2026 election cycle.
| States that provide for types of citizen-initiated measures and current signature requirements | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Constitutional | Signatures | Statute | Signatures | Referendum | Signatures | |
| Alaska | No | N/A | Yes | 34,098 | Yes | 34,098 | |
| Arizona | Yes | 383,923 | Yes | 255,949 | Yes | 127,975 | |
| Arkansas | Yes | 90,704 | Yes | 72,563 | Yes | 54,422 | |
| California | Yes | 874,641 | Yes | 546,651 | Yes | 546,651 | |
| Colorado | Yes | 124,238 | Yes | 124,238 | Yes | 124,238 | |
| Florida | Yes | 880,062 | No | N/A | No | N/A | |
| Idaho | No | N/A | Yes | 70,725 | Yes | 70,725 | |
| Illinois | Yes | 328,371 | No | N/A | No | N/A | |
| Maine | No | N/A | Yes | 67,682 | Yes | 67,682 | |
| Maryland | No | N/A | No | N/A | Yes | 60,157 | |
| Massachusetts | Yes | 74,490 | Yes | 74,490 | Yes | 37,245[2] | |
| Michigan | Yes | 446,198 | Yes | 356,958 | Yes | 223,099 | |
| Mississippi[3] | Yes | 106,190 | No | N/A | No | N/A | |
| Missouri | Yes | 170,215[4] | Yes | 106,384[4] | Yes | 106,384[4] | |
| Montana | Yes | 60,241 | Yes | 30,121 | Yes | 30,121 | |
| Nebraska | Yes | 126,838 | Yes | 88,787 | Yes | 63,419[5] | |
| New Mexico | No | N/A | No | N/A | Yes | 92,829[6] | |
| Nevada | Yes | 102,362 | Yes | 135,561 | Yes | 102,362 | |
| North Dakota | Yes | 31,164 | Yes | 15,582 | Yes | 15,582 | |
| Ohio | Yes | 413,487 | Yes | 248,092[7] | Yes | 248,093 | |
| Oklahoma | Yes | 172,993 | Yes | 92,263 | Yes | 57,664 | |
| Oregon | Yes | 156,231 | Yes | 117,173 | Yes | 78,115 | |
| South Dakota | Yes | 35,017 | Yes | 17,508 | Yes | 17,508 | |
| Utah | No | N/A | Yes | 140,748 | Yes | 140,748 | |
| Washington | No | N/A | Yes | 308,911 | Yes | 154,456 | |
| Wyoming | No | N/A | Yes | 40,669 | Yes | 40,669 | |
Types of ballot measures
- See also:Ballot measure
Most ballot measures are placed on the ballot throughcitizen initiatives orlegislative processes. Others are placed on the ballot automatically, by a special commission, or by a state constitutional convention. The following is a list of different types of state ballot measures:
See also
- Forms of direct democracy in the American states
- States with initiative or referendum
- Types of ballot measures
- Types of citizen-initiated ballot measures
- Veto referendum
Footnotes
- ↑Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑This was the number of signatures required to put a targeted law before voters. To suspend the enactment of the targeted law until the election, the requirement was 49,660 valid signatures.
- ↑On May 14, 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision stating that it is impossible for any petition to meet the state's distribution requirement and has been impossible since congressional reapportionment in 2001.The six justices wrote, "... Whether with intent, by oversight, or for some other reason, the drafters of [the constitutional signature distribution requirement] wrote a ballot initiative process that cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress. To work in today’s reality, it will need amending—something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court."
- ↑4.04.14.2This is the minimum required if signatures are collected in the congressional districts with the lowest numbers of votes cast in 2020. The signature requirement varies based on what districts are targeted for signature collection.
- ↑ To suspend the enactment of the targeted law until the election, the requirement is 126,838 valid signatures.
- ↑This is the number of signatures required to put a targeted law before voters. To suspend the enactment of the targeted law until the election, the requirement is 232,072 valid signatures.
- ↑This is the requirement for two rounds of signatures to get an initiated statute on the ballot; half the number of signatures—124,046—is required to place the initiative before the legislature.
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