HB78 Summary

• Proposes a constitutional amendment to allow Alabama citizens to initiate enactment of general laws and constitutional amendments through a petition and voting process.

• Initial filing requires a preliminary petition with at least 1,000 qualified voter signatures, a $1,000 filing fee (refundable if adopted), and a registered agent responsible for the proposal.

• Final petition for general laws requires signatures equaling at least 7% of votes cast for Governor in the last gubernatorial election, with at least 1% from each congressional district; final petition for constitutional amendments requires 10% statewide with 1.3% per district.

• Legislature may review proposals filed before the regular session and sponsor them as legislation, or offer alternative proposals to appear on the ballot alongside the original initiative measure.

• If an initiative fails to pass, an identical proposal cannot be resubmitted for at least two years; laws adopted by initiative can only be repealed or amended by voter approval.