California requires a 5% signature threshold for policy initiatives and an 8% threshold for constitutional amendments.
Posted by Power & Politics, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 95%
Power & PoliticsOct 21, 2026
California's signature requirements match the claim: initiative statutes need signatures equal to 5% of the votes cast for Governor in the last gubernatorial election, and initiative constitutional amendments need 8%. The rule is stated in the Department of Finance, Secretary of State and Legislative Analyst's Office sources, and the extraction faithfully reflects the post's wording.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… before and after an election, and so I think that that gives a pretty clear time frame for me that we've got an answer, and we'll have to do some consideration about what the bar should be when you're having these kinds of constitutional type of questions. California, they do have slight differences. I think it's a 5% bar for policy, 8% for constitution. There'll have to be some questions that we would have about that, but this is a pretty clear mandate: 75%. It seems it seems to me it'd be a bit foolhardy for anyone to try to put this forward again, having heard so clearly what Albertans want to do. …
Power & Politics · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The California Department of Finance states that initiatives must be signed by registered voters equal to 5 percent for a statute and 8 percent for a constitutional amendment, based on votes cast for Governor in the previous election.[1]
Supports. The Secretary of State's Statewide Initiative Guide says initiative statutes require at least 5% and initiative constitutional amendments require at least 8% of total votes cast for Governor at the last gubernatorial election, citing Cal. Const. art. II, § 8(b) and Elec. Code § 9035.[2]
Supports. The Legislative Analyst's Office notes that constitutional amendments have a higher signature requirement than statutory initiatives, consistent with the 5% and 8% thresholds, though it does not state the percentages in the excerpt.[3]
Context. The Secretary of State's 25% trigger figures (136,663 and 218,661 signatures) are derived from the same 5% and 8% requirements, and the Secretary of State's 2025 guide gives the full totals of 546,651 and 874,641 signatures, which predate the claim's date.[2][4]
Sources
4 sources: 4 primary
- 1Initiatives and Ballot Propositions - California Department of Financedof.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2Statewide Initiative Guide 2025elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 3Ballot Analysis - Legislative Analyst’s Officelao.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4Circulating Initiatives with 25% of Signatures Reachedsos.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post