Petitioning 101

Petitioning 101

General Guidelines

  • Stay within the legal calendar July 10,2012 to August 15, 2012. Petitioning technically ends August 21 but we need time to process and file them.
  • Send your completed petitions in each week so we know how we are doing and can stay ahead of processing.
  • good places to petition include subway platforms, parks, outside supermarkets, anywhere people are standing around or walking.
  • Petitioning is 100% legal and it’s a civic duty to provide better choices for voters.
  • The objective is a large number of valid signatures. Don’t engage in extended conversations and don’t try to persuade people who don’t want to sign. It’s a numbers cam.  The more people you ask – the signatures you get.
  • Here are some examples of what to say…”Would you sign to put Gary Johnson onto the ballot for president?” or  “Would you sign to put some independent candidates on the ballot?”  or “Would you sign for an alternative to Obomney?”
  • Consider carrying two or more clip boards to speed things up if groups of two or more people are willing to sign.

Signatories (people who sign the petition)

  • The only field that the voter must fill in is the signature. Anyone can fill in date, printed name, residence, city or town or county. Zip code is not required as part of the voter’s residence address. Neither the signatory nor the witness should make any stray marks in the signature or date fields. If the pen skips while writing those fields, do not “fix” them.
  • If a correction must be made to the date, cross out the wrong date with a single line, write in the correct date, and initial it. If a correction must be made to any other field, cross out the wrong information with a single line and write in the correct information. There is no need to initial.
  • Corrections cannot be made to a signature. If the signature is in error, have the voter sign again in the next available line. Cross out the entire erroneous signature line with a single line and initial both ends of the crossout.
  • You need not fill a page with signatures. Any number of signatures is acceptable on a page. You can witness your spouse’s signature, and your spouse can witness yours on a separate page.  You cannot witness your own signature

Witnesses (people gathering signatures – that’s you)

  • You must be a registered voter in the State of New York.  Your party affiliation does not matter.
  • Fill out the witness statement at any time after you are finished collecting signatures on the page. Print the contents of the witness statement. Witness address must include zip code. Spell out the number of signatures on the page (e.g., ten, nine, etc.). Date the witness statement as of the date you actually fill it in. The date of the witness statement need not be the same as the date of the last signatory on the page, but of course must not be earlier. Don’t forget the “Witness Identification Information” below the signature. Since it is below the signature, anyone can fill it in at any time, before or after the witness statement is signed.
Manhattan Libertarian Party