Initiatives and Referendums in The United States - Proposed Reforms

Proposed Reforms

Some proposed reforms include paying signature-gatherers by the hour, rather than by the signature (to reduce incentives for fraud) and increasing transparency by requiring major financial backers of initiatives to be disclosed to potential signatories. Other proposals include having a "cooling-off" period after an initiative qualifies, in which the legislature can obviate the need for the initiative by passing identical legislation, or an alternative version acceptable to the initiative's sponsors. It has also been proposed that proxy voting be combined with initiative and referendum to form a hybrid of direct democracy and representative democracy.