SEC. 14.101. INITIATIVES.
§ 14.101
San Francisco residents can propose initiatives by submitting a petition signed by at least 2% of registered voters to the Director of Elections. Initiatives are voted on at the next general election at least 90 days later, unless the Board calls a special election or the petition reaches 10% of mayoral votes and requests an expedited special election (held 105–120 days after calling). Voter-approved initiatives cannot be vetoed, amended, or repealed except by voters themselves, unless the initiative permits otherwise.
To start an initiative in San Francisco, you need to get a petition signed by at least 2% of registered voters and turn it in to the Director of Elections. Once the signatures are verified, your initiative will be put on the ballot at the next general election (at least 90 days away). However, if your petition gets signatures from at least 10% of people who voted for Mayor in the last election and specifically asks for a faster vote, the city will hold a special election within 105 to 120 days instead. Once voters approve an initiative, nobody—not the Mayor or Board of Supervisors—can veto it, change it, or get rid of it unless the voters do so themselves (unless the initiative says otherwise).
- Complex:The section contains multiple conditional pathways for when and how initiatives appear on ballots, with different timing rules and signature thresholds that require careful reading to understand.
- Controversial:Initiative rules are inherently political and shape democratic processes; reasonable people disagree about signature thresholds, timing, and the balance between direct democracy and representative government.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
An initiative may be proposed by presenting to the Director of Elections a petition containing the initiative and signed by voters in a number equal to at least two percent of the number of registered voters in the City and County. Such initiative shall be submitted to the voters by the Director of Elections upon certification of the sufficiency of the petition’s signatures.
A vote on such initiative shall occur at the next general municipal or statewide election occurring at any time after 90 days from the date of the certificate of sufficiency executed by the Director of Elections, unless the Board of Supervisors directs that the initiative be voted upon at a special municipal election.
If the petition containing the initiative is signed by voters in a number equal to at least ten percent of the votes cast for all candidates for Mayor in the last preceding general municipal election for Mayor, and contains a request that the initiative be submitted forthwith to voters at a special municipal election, the Director of Elections shall promptly call such a special municipal election on the initiative. Such election shall be held not less than 105 nor more than 120 days from the date of its calling unless it is within 105 days of a general municipal or statewide election, in which event the initiative shall be submitted at such general municipal or statewide election.
No initiative or declaration of policy approved by the voters shall be subject to veto, or to amendment or repeal except by the voters, unless such initiative or declaration of policy shall otherwise provide.
(Amended by Proposition H, Approved 11/8/2022)