In U. S. elections, 38 states and the District of Columbia currently allow what action, which has been completed by 9 million people this year?

In all, at least 124 statutory and constitutional questions appear on this year’s state ballots, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). About two thirds of them were put there by the legislatures, usually because direct voter approval is required on tax and bond issues and on constitutional changes, the NCSL said. In 24 states, mostly in the West, any citizen may collect signatures to put a proposed law on the ballot, although most legislatures can still override them, according to NCSL legislative policy specialist Amanda Zoch. This year, 38 of the ballot measures were put there by citizens, a decline from 60 in 2018 and 72 in 2016 as the coronavirus pandemic dampened populist participation

Explanation:

because each is self-sufficient.