Automatic ballot referral

An automatic ballot referral (or compulsory referral) is a type of referendum that is legally required to automatically be placed on a ballot. In the United States, many states have laws in their constitution requiring a question to hold a constitutional convention to appear before the voters after a scheduled amount of time.^[1]

Types

Constitutional Convention

In the United States, fourteen states' constitutions state that they must give voters a chance to decide if they want to amend the constitution at set times.

State	Upcoming year of vote	Years between vote[1]	Percent voted yes at last vote[2]
Alaska	2022[3]	10	32.3
Connecticut	2028[4]	20	40.1
Hawaii	2028[5]	10	23.7
Iowa	2020[6]	10	32.8
Illinois	2028[2]	20	32.6
Maryland	2030[7]	20	48.1
Michigan	2026[8]	16	33.4
Missouri	2022[9]	20	34.7
Montana	2030[10]	20	41.5
New Hampshire	2022[2]	10	35.9
New York	2037[11]	20	16
Ohio	2032[12]	20	31.7
Oklahoma	2030[13][a]	20	23.7
Rhode Island	2024[15]	10	44.9

Notes

1. Oklahoma has not voted on a convention since 1970, even though the constitution states that they must be held every 20 years.^[14]