HackTheLaw · United States
Same fights, different system
In the United States, signatures don't take a law to parliament: they take it straight to the ballot.
In preparation
Your browser suggests you might be in Spain — this is the Spanish version. Detection is local: nothing is sent or stored.
Where this branch stands, plainly
In exploration. There is no American campaign yet, and we won't pretend there is. This page exists for two things: to explain how the system there actually works, and to find the people who can lead it from there.
How a law gets changed in the United States
There is no federal citizen initiative: no way to take a law to Congress with signatures. The real route is in the states: 26 of them let citizens, by gathering signatures, put a measure directly on the ballot. If it wins the vote, it's law. It is a stronger instrument than Spain's — it doesn't force a debate: it decides — and that's why it asks for more.
| The California example | |
|---|---|
| Signatures | 5 % of the votes in the last governor's race — 546,651 for the 2024 cycle |
| Window | 180 days |
| Who signs | Registered voters of the state only, verified against the rolls |
| How | On official petition sheets, on paper |
Every state has its own numbers and rules. There is no American method: there are 26. And online petitions like Change.org do there what they do here: pressure and temperature. Not one of those signatures reaches a ballot.
Both fights already exist there
- Housing: rent measures are fought precisely through citizen initiatives, at state and city level.
- Basic income: Alaska has paid every resident an annual dividend from its oil fund since 1982 — the oldest real precedent in existence. And dozens of cities have run guaranteed income pilots.
Our role is the same as in Europe: not to land and found what already exists, but to give it method, material and a megaphone.
The money question, answered once
No money passes through this platform. In any direction. Ever. We don't ask for it, we don't take it, we don't hand it out. We're here to inspire and to share method — nothing more, and nothing less.
And it turns out American law asks for exactly that: states like California and Colorado ban foreign money in initiative campaigns. Their law and our model agree: this gets done by people there, or it doesn't get done. From Spain: method, material and a megaphone.
Where to start: three states, three methods
There is no American method: each state has its own. These three are the starting point we propose, with their real numbers:
California — the giant
| Instrument | Direct initiated statute |
| Signatures | 546,651 valid — 5 % of the votes in the last governor's race |
| Rules | 180-day window, registered voters, on paper |
| The natural fight | Housing: rent measures reach its ballot again and again |
Our edge there: one of the largest Spanish-speaking communities in the country — our Spanish material works as-is.
Oregon — the lesson learned
| Instrument | Direct initiated statute |
| Signatures | 6 % of the governor's-race vote — Measure 118 gathered over 120,000 valid ones in 2024 |
| The precedent | Measure 118 —about $1,600 a year per resident, funded by a 3 % tax on large corporate sales— made the ballot… and lost with nearly 80 % against |
The lesson it leaves behind: gathering signatures is the reachable part; the real campaign is persuading the voter. Whoever starts in Oregon starts knowing what didn't work.
Colorado — the living pilot
| Instrument | Direct initiative (statute or constitutional amendment) |
| Signatures | 124,238 valid — 5 % of the votes cast for Secretary of State. The most reachable threshold of the three |
| The precedent | Denver hosts the country's largest study of guaranteed income for people experiencing homelessness: in its first year, 45 % of participants secured housing (University of Denver) |
And one detail that confirms our model: Colorado bans foreign money in initiatives. People there, with their own — like us.
Do you live in the United States?
Whatever your state, your language or your experience: if this sounds like something you'd want to build, write to info@hackthesystem.eu. We're looking for the first three people: one per state.