Ballot initiative

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Another common type of ballot measure is a referendum, which differs from a ballot initiative in that it originates in the government rather than in the electorate itself.

Wikipedia rather says:

 The word, 'referendum' is often a catchall, used for both legislative referrals and initiatives.

That is more in line with my intuition. Though maybe American usage is different.

I probably think that the initial terminology section could be dropped, and that you could just have an initial sentence or two where you explain what a ballot initiative is. E.g. something like:

"A ballot initiative is a process by which new or amended legislation may be introduced. In a first step, proponents of the proposal collect signatures among voters. If they manage to collect a sufficient number of signatures, the proposal is put before the electorate."

(Obviously feel free to ignore or modify my suggestion.)

I made some slight further revisions. I kept the original section, but I don't feel strongly about this; feel free to move the content to the lead section if you think this makes more sense.

Thanks, looks good.

Thanks. I revised the section.