Referendums in Germany

Note that the term "Bürgerinitiative" (literally citizens' initiative) is used informally for non-partisan local campaign organizations (political action groups).

Originally, only some of the Bundesländer (federated states of Germany) had provisions for a general binding referendum (Volksentscheid, "people's decision") on popular initiatives (Volksbegehren, "people's request"), with Hesse and Bavaria also having a mandatory binding referendum on changes to the state constitution.

Most states have a form of non-binding ballot question (Volksbefragung, "people's inquiry") which has rarely been used - the most important of these had been the 1955 Saar Statute referendum.

The other type is commonly referred to as free collection (German: Freie Sammlung) where letters may be accumulated before being handed over.

[citation needed] This is in contrast to the free collection, where people may sign a petition that is freely circulated by the public.

[citation needed] In the German state of Brandenburg as a reaction to the criticism of the official collection, including from the SPD and Die Linke political parties[4] a reform in 2012 created the possibility for municipal administrations to be able to determine further registration offices (e.g. bank and post office branches, shops).