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• Parents Bill of Rights

Keep the process simple and just start. The initiative process is intended to be simple enough to allow ordinary citizens to enact new statutes, ordinances and amendments, mostly independent of governing bodies. Obtain current and complete information from the appropriate election office. Also, see FAQ’s.

1. Find out if you have Initiative rights in your state, county or city by visiting www.iandrinstitute.org (State and Local I & R buttons on the left of home page). If you do, then contact www.municode.org for basic information and then your secretary of state, county government or city hall election office or web-sites to obtain complete current instructions for filing a ballot initiative and circulating petitions. Don’t let them know what your initiatives are about until you file. Additionally, ask which initiatives are currently in progress. If your initiative has been filed already by someone else then maybe you can help that person or committee.
2. Obtain copies, from the same office, of several previously filed initiatives and petitions, preferably which were approved for petitioning and ever better if passed into law. Use these as a model for page layout and orientation, formatting, font size and type, enactment clause, numbering, warnings, etc.
3. Confirm the time frame for each step of the initiative process. Determine if there is enough time to get through the filing, review and public comment periods (if required) and still have a reasonable time for collecting enough signatures to be on the ballot in the next election. If not, find out if you can still begin the process now and pursue getting on the ballot for the next available election.
4. Obtain text of draft initiatives from www.corighttoknow.org (or the organization that assisted you in filing the initiatives) See FAQ’s for more assistance.
5. Determine if your initiative is going to be a constitutional amendment or statute (for statewide initiatives) or a charter amendment or initiated ordinance (for citywide initiatives). See FAQ’s for more information on considerations for choosing the type of initiative and its preferred location in the statutes or ordinances.
6. Create the necessary documents exactly according to the current official instructions.
7. File the initiative and any other necessary documents with the appropriate office. See FAQ’s
8. On the day of filing, send an e-mail message to info@corighttoknow.org , or your coordinating organization, stating the date the initiative was filed and the location of the office in which it was filed.

Note: The requirements for deadlines, sequence of procedural steps, and the specific details of formatting and filing an initiative vary widely from place to place. It is very helpful to have legal assistance though it is not legally required usually. You can go a long way without it if you pay close attention to the instructions and follow what other successful initiative proponents have done. But don’t assume that a huge organization, or prior experience is needed before you begin. Just start in a simple way and let people and resources gravitate to you. In the words of both an expert at the I&R Institute and also the Director of the Legislative Assistance office in one state, "just send it in and see what happens". If the initiative has serious flaws, it can always be withdrawn and resubmitted in a better form. However, a proper start will save time. See FAQ’s for more information.

Reference web-sites and books for additional information on Initiative: (1,2 and3 are the most important)

1. http://www.iandrinstitute.org -- (Initiative and Referendum Institute, Washington, D.C.) Offers very complete information on the history, benefits and state and local initiative rights. Contains basic requirements and database of current and past initiatives in your state.
2. http://www.corighttoknow.org – Download initiative text and see other information/links on GE foods
3. http://www.afj.org – (Alliance for Justice). Valuable information on how non-profit 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations can participate in ballot initiatives.
4. http://www.bigg-alliance.org – Promotes specific ballot initiatives. (Web-site under construction)
5. http://www.ballot.org – Tracks initiatives in all states, and links to other organizations that have related information on the use of Initiative.
6. http://www.directdemocracy.org – Tracks initiatives in progress and has a very useful "pre-petition" and "post petition" checklist.
7. Citizen Lawmakers, by David Schmidt – Excellent and inspiring book on the history, benefits and use of the initiative process. It also contains a brief campaign manual.