Ballot measures and petitions in Austin

Texans can't put a measure on the statewide ballot themselves. Austin voters can: 20,000 signatures from registered voters sends a proposed ordinance or charter amendment toward the city ballot. B-59 runs those petition drives for progressive causes.

Signatures needed
20,000 registered Austin voters
A signature counts for
180 days before filing
City Clerk checks
A sample of 25% or more

How a petition reaches the Austin ballot

  1. Write the measure

    A proposed ordinance or charter amendment, worded exactly as it would be adopted. A charter amendment can cover only one subject.

  2. Collect signatures

    From registered voters who live in Austin: 5% of the city's registered voters or 20,000, whichever is fewer. Today that is 20,000. A signature dated more than 180 days before the petition is filed doesn't count.

  3. Get every line right

    Each signer gives their signature, printed name, residence address and date of signing, plus either their date of birth or their voter registration number. Only the signature has to be in their own hand.

  4. The City Clerk verifies

    By a random sample of at least 25% of the signatures or 1,000, whichever is more. For petitions of 20,000 or more, the Clerk expects it to take at least 30 days.

  5. The Council adopts it, or voters decide

    For a proposed ordinance, the Council either passes it exactly as written within 10 days or orders an election. Any petition that goes to voters, ordinance or charter amendment, is on the ballot in November of an even-numbered year, under a charter change Austin voters approved in 2026.

These rules are the City Clerk's and the Texas Secretary of State's own:

What we do

  • A signature goal and a calendar

    A target well above 20,000, because the Clerk's sample throws out lines from unregistered voters, people outside the city and incomplete entries. Then a schedule worked back from the election you're aiming for.

  • Circulators who get it right

    Recruiting and training the people with the clipboards, so every line carries every required field the first time.

  • Checking as we go

    Signatures checked against the voter roll as they come in, so you know your valid count before the Clerk does, and while there's still time to close a gap.

  • The campaign after the petition

    Coalition, message and voter contact to carry the measure on election day. Qualifying is half the work.

Recent Austin petitions

The numbers behind Austin petitions

Who we work with

B-59 works only with Democratic and progressive campaigns and causes. Ballot measures are part of a wider practice in field organizing, data, communications and campaign design.

All our political consulting

Rules checked against the City Clerk and Secretary of State in November 2026. This page explains the process; it is not legal advice.

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