How to Get a Proposition on the Ballot in Texas

To get a proposition on the ballot in Texas, you first need to know which kind of proposition you have, because that single question determines whether a citizen petition is even an option. Charter amendments and local ordinance measures in home rule cities can be driven by voter petition. Statewide constitutional amendments cannot: only the Texas Legislature can put those on the ballot. Everything else about the process, including how many signatures you need and when you must file, flows from which category you are in.

Can You Even Petition in Your City?

Under the Texas Constitution, only cities with more than 5,000 residents may adopt a home rule charter, and only home rule charters can give residents the power to initiate ordinances, propose charter amendments, or trigger referendums on laws the council recently passed.¹ If you live in a general law city, you do not have initiative or referendum rights, and no state statute lets a general law council put a citizen-petitioned ordinance to voters.

Even in a home rule city, initiative and referendum powers only exist if the charter itself provides for them. Most large Texas cities do, but not all. Read your city’s charter, which is usually posted on the city’s website or available through the city clerk. If the charter has no initiative or referendum article, you cannot petition an ordinance onto the ballot. You can, however, still pursue a charter amendment, because state law gives qualified voters that right directly.

Which Kind of Proposition You Have

Local propositions in Texas fall into three categories, and the rules differ sharply among them.

Charter amendments change your city’s foundational governing document. State law gives qualified voters in any home rule city the right to petition for a charter amendment election, regardless of what the charter says about initiatives.²
Ordinance initiatives propose a new local law or repeal an existing one. The authority comes from your city charter, so signature thresholds, deadlines, and procedures vary from city to city.
Referendums let voters approve or reject an ordinance the council has already passed. Again, authority and process depend on the charter.

Charter amendments are the one path with a clear, uniform statewide process. For ordinance initiatives and referendums, your city charter controls almost everything, and you have to read it carefully before planning anything else.

Signature Counts You Need to Hit

For a charter amendment petition, state law sets the threshold: signatures from at least 5 percent of the municipality’s qualified voters, or 20,000 signatures, whichever is smaller.² A city with 400,000 qualified voters needs 20,000; a city with 50,000 qualified voters needs 2,500. The 20,000 cap keeps the number manageable in the state’s largest cities.

For ordinance initiatives, the number is set by your city charter, not by state law. Thresholds in Texas home rule cities commonly run from 5 to 10 percent of qualified voters, and some charters use other benchmarks, such as a percentage of votes cast in the most recent municipal election. The only way to know your number is to read the charter, and the city clerk’s office can confirm it and give you the current qualified-voter count you need to calculate your target.

Collect more than the minimum. Verification always invalidates some portion of signatures for illegibility, non-registered signers, duplicates, or incomplete information. A cushion of 20 to 30 percent above the minimum is standard practice.

Drafting Language That Will Survive

Whatever you write on the petition is what appears on the ballot and, if voters approve it, becomes law. For charter amendments, state law imposes a single-subject rule: each proposed amendment may address only one subject.² A petition that bundles two unrelated changes into a single amendment risks rejection. Multiple changes mean multiple petitions.

Hiring an attorney to draft or review the language is not legally required, but skipping that step is where most petition efforts fall apart. Ambiguous wording can make an approved amendment unenforceable. Technical defects in the petition form can get the whole submission thrown out before anyone counts a signature. The attorney should also check your charter’s specific procedural requirements, because missing a formatting rule or a required disclosure can be fatal.

The petition itself must include the full text of the proposition so every signer can read what they are supporting. Each page should collect the signer’s printed name, residential address, date of signing, and either voter registration number or date of birth. Most jurisdictions also require a circulator affidavit on each page, in which the person who gathered the signatures swears under oath that they witnessed each one and believe the signers are qualified voters.

Collecting Signatures

Circulators do not have to be registered voters themselves, but they must be competent to understand and swear to the affidavit. Using circulators who are also registered voters in the jurisdiction adds credibility and reduces challenges.

Door-to-door canvassing, tables at community events and farmers markets, and volunteers stationed at high-traffic public locations are the methods that work. Sidewalks, city parks, and other traditional public spaces are where free speech protections are strongest, and you generally do not need a permit to collect signatures there. Private property is different. Shopping center owners and other private operators can restrict or prohibit signature gathering on their premises, and in Texas the property owner’s rights typically prevail.

Texas does not prohibit paying petition circulators, though some other states restrict per-signature payment. Paid or volunteer, every circulator still completes the affidavit on every page. The single most common reason signatures get thrown out is sloppy paperwork: missing dates, illegible addresses, unsigned affidavits. Review every page before you file, while there is still time to fix problems.

Filing and the Election Timeline

Completed petitions go to the city clerk or the designated local election authority. Timing drives everything. For charter amendment elections, the governing body must order the election to be held on the first available uniform election date, or on the earlier of the next municipal general election or presidential general election, and the election date must fall at least 30 days after the governing body adopts the ordinance ordering the election.² Work backward from these dates when you plan collection.

Texas holds uniform elections on the first Saturday in May of odd-numbered years, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and certain other dates specified in the Election Code. The city clerk can tell you which upcoming date your petition would need to hit and what the practical filing deadline is to leave room for signature verification and the ordinance-ordering process.

Organize your petition pages neatly when you file, include any supplemental documents the jurisdiction requires, and get a dated receipt from the clerk’s office. That receipt is your proof of timely filing, and timing is one of the most common grounds for challenge.

After You File

The clerk or election administrator checks each signature against voter registration records, confirms no one signed twice, and verifies that the forms are properly completed. The review can take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months depending on volume and staffing.

If the clerk certifies that the signature threshold is met, the governing body has to act. For charter amendments, the council must order an election, and the election notice must be published in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks before the election date, carrying the full text of the proposed amendment and an estimate of its fiscal impact on the city.² For ordinance initiatives, the council’s options depend on the charter. Many charters let the council either adopt the proposed ordinance outright or send it to voters. Some require it to go straight to the ballot.

If your petition is rejected for insufficient valid signatures or procedural defects, the clerk must tell you why. A rejected petition is not a bar to trying again on the same topic. You can fix the problems and start a new drive.

State Constitutional Amendments Are Not a Petition Path

Texas does not allow citizen-initiated amendments to the state constitution. A constitutional amendment can only be proposed by the Legislature, through a joint resolution that passes both the House and the Senate by a two-thirds supermajority.³ Joint resolutions do not require the governor’s signature. Once passed, the amendment goes to voters at a statewide election, typically in November of odd-numbered years, and a simple majority ratifies it.

If your goal is a statewide policy change, your only path is persuading state legislators to introduce and champion a joint resolution. No number of petition signatures can force a constitutional amendment onto the Texas ballot.

Money, Taxes, and Reporting Before You Start Raising Funds

A petition drive usually means collecting and spending money, which triggers both state campaign finance reporting and federal tax obligations. Any group formed to support or oppose a ballot proposition is a political organization under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. You will need an Employer Identification Number from the IRS, Form 8871 to notify the IRS of your status, periodic contribution and expenditure reports on Form 8872, and an annual tax return on Form 1120-POL.⁴

At the state level, the Texas Ethics Commission oversees campaign finance reporting for political committees involved in local ballot measures. Failing to register and report properly does not invalidate your petition, but it brings fines and legal problems that pull attention away from the campaign. Set up your compliance structure before you start raising money, not after.

1
State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article XI, Section 5
2
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code Chapter 9 – Home-Rule Municipality
3
CIRA Texas. 2025 Texas Constitutional Amendments Voters Guide
4
Internal Revenue Service. Filing Requirements for Political Organizations