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National Ballot Initiative

A National Ballot Initiative is a process that allows citizens to directly propose and vote on new laws or amendments at the national level. Citizens or interest groups gather signatures to qualify a question for the ballot, and then voters decide whether to approve or reject it during elections. This process enables public participation beyond elected representatives, empowering people to influence legislation on major issues. While common in some U.S. states, a true national ballot initiative system for federal laws is rare; currently, most initiatives occur at the state level.