AMENDMENT:
Proposal of laws by petition and enactment of such laws by popular vote
Amendment Details:
Date:
July 11, 1977
Type:
Congressional Bills
State of Origin:
South Dakota (SD)
Congress:
95th Congress (1977-1979)
Summary:
Proposal of laws by petition and enactment of such laws by popular vote
Text:
"ARTICLE -
"SECTION 1. The people of the United Stai shall have
the power to propose and enact laws in accordance with this
II
M
article, except with respect to carrying out the powers
granted to Congress in clauses 11 and 15 of article I, section
38, of this Constitution. This article does not grant the people
of the United States the power to propose amendments to
this Constitution.
"SEC. 2. A law is proposed by presenting to the chief
law enforcement officer of the United States a petition that
sets forth the text of the proposed law and contains signa-
tures, collected within the eighteen months prior to such
presentation, of registered voters equal in number to three
per centun of the bailots cast in the last general election for
President and which includes the signatures of registered vot-
ers in each of ten States equal in number to three per centum
of the ballots cast in the last gen.ral election for President
in each of the ten States. Within ninety days of such presen-
tation, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States
shall determine the validity of the signatures contained in
such petition through consultation with the appropriate
States. Upon a determination that such petition contains the
required number of valid signatures, he shall certify such
petition. He shall then direct that the proposed law be placed
on the ballot at the next general election held for choosing
Members of the House of Representatives occurring at least
one hundred and twenty days after such certification. The
Congress shall provide by law reasonable procedures for the
preparation and transmittal of such petitions, and for the
certification of signatures on such petitions. For the purposes
of this section, the term 'State' shall include the District of
Columbia.
"SEC. 3. A proposed law shall be enacted upon approval
by a majority of the people casting votes with respect to such
proposed law and shall take effect thirty days after such ap-
proval except as otherwise provided in the proposed law.
Any law enacted pursuant to this article shall be a law the
same as any other law of the United States, except that any
law to repeal or amend a law enacted pursuant to this article
during the two years immediately following its effective date
must receive ar affirmative rolleall vote of two-thirds of the
Members of each House duly elected and sworn. No law,
the enactment of which is forbidden the Congress by this
Constitution or any amendment thereof, may be enacted by-
the people under this article.
1-4
"SEC. 4. The Congress and the people shall have the
po ver to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.".
Y
Chamber:
Senate
Sponsor:
ABOUREZK, James George (SD-D)
Co-Sponsors:
RANDOLPH, Jennings (WV-D) HASKELL, Floyd Kirk (CO-D) GRAVEL, Maurice Robert (Mike) (AK-D) HATFIELD, Mark Odom (OR-R)
Committee of referral:
Judiciary
Topics:
referen - Referenda initiat - Legislative initiatives by citizens leginfl - Outside participation in legislation
Record Source:
Davis, Richard. Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States Introduced in Congress from the 91st Congress, 1st Session through the 98th Congress, 2d Session, January 1969-December 1984, (CRS Report No. 85-36 GOV), Washington: Congressional Research Service, 1985.
Cite As:
The Amendments Project, edited by Jill Lepore and Tobias Resch, 2023, https://amendmentsproject.org [Record Number b095-s00067, accessed 2026-09-29]. Record Source: [Davis, Richard. Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States Introduced in Congress from the 91st Congress, 1st Session through the 98th Congress, 2d Session, January 1969-December 1984, (CRS Report No. 85-36 GOV), Washington: Congressional Research Service, 1985.]
