a "cooling-off" period after an initiative qualifies, in which the legislature can make the initiative unnecessary by passing legislation acceptable to the initiative's sponsors. It has also been proposed that proxy voting be combined with initiative and referendum to form a hybrid of direct democracy and representative democracy. Ludlow Amendment The Ludlow Amendment was a proposed constitutional amendment drafted by Indiana congressman Louis Ludlow allowing for a referendum after a congressional declaration of war. It reached its peak public approval rating in the 1930s in an effort to maintain American isolationism in the years before the Second World War. National initiative The national initiative is a proposal to amend the United States Constitution to allow ballot initiatives at the federal level. Citizens' Initiative Review Healthy Democracy, and a similar organization in Washington State, proposed a Citizens' Initiative Review process. This brings together a representative cross-section of voters as a citizens' jury to question and hear from advocates and experts regarding a ballot measure; then deliberate and reflect together to come up with statements that support and/or oppose the measure. The state would organize such a review of each ballot measure, and include the panelists' statements in the voters' pamphlet. Since 2009, Healthy Democracy has led efforts to develop and refine the Citizens' Initiative Review process for use by Oregon voters. In 2011, the Oregon Legislature approved House Bill 2634, legislation making the Citizens' Initiative Review a permanent part of Oregon elections. This marked the first time a legislature has made voter deliberation a formalized part of the election process. The CIR is a benchmark in the initiative reform and public engagement fields. Each state has individual requirements to qualify initiatives for the ballot. Generally, all 24 states and the District of Columbia follow steps similar to: File a proposed petition with a designated state official State review of the proposal and, in several states, a review of the language of the proposal Prepare ballot title and summary Petition circulation to obtain the required number of signatures Petition submitted to state election officials to verify the signatures and qualify the ballot entry See also Comparison of U.S. state governments Hollingsworth v. Perry Fairness Project Elections in Puerto Rico References Further reading External links Ballot Measures overview at Ballotpedia Citizens in Charge NCSL Ballot Measures Database NCSL Initiative & Referendum Legislation Database The National Initiative for Democracy (NI4D) The National Initiative for