“Children
Need Both Parents” Petition Drive
Children
Need Both Parents petition
Petitioning Instruction Tips
Bureau of Elections Instructions
DADS Petition News Release
Petition Purpose or Goals
Printing
the petition
Before
printing, set your print paper size to 8 ½ x 14
and use legal size paper. There are two print errors that
may occur (1) INITIATION OF LEGISLATION is not printed
on the top of the ballot, (2) check boxes are not printed
next to Township and City. . The petition should be printed
two sided. If you need assistance, contact DADS of Michigan
petition technical support at 248-467-1204
Feel
free to use a copy service to duplicate the petition.
Signatures
Each
ballot must contain signatures from people in a single
County. Example: Enter WAYNE at the top of the ballot where
it asks for the county. All of the signatures on this page
must be from Wayne County.
It
has been our experience that a local Post Office on Saturday
morning is an ideal time to collect signatures. Also very
easy is to have family members and friends sign the petition.
You may pick up a clip board at Staples or Office Depot
for $1.80.
Return
the Petition forms to the DADS of Michigan mail box at
the bottom of the petition.
Your
feedback is helpful. If you have suggestions, send to jimsemerad@cs.com
PETITIONING
INSTRUCTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Any
person registered to vote in Michigan may circulate petitions
anywhere in the state. However, the petition signatures
must be submitted to the secretary of state according
to the county of residence of the signers. So, the first
thing to do is write the name of the county where you
are petitioning in the space provided at the top of the
petition. Then make certain that all signers on that
particular petition are registered to vote at an address
in that county . Either get extra copies of the petition
from us or else photocopy a blank one to have available
more petitions than you anticipate needing in order to
accommodate signers who happen live in other counties.
If you are working an event that draws from across the
state, you may need a dozen different petitions. After
determining that a potential signer is registered to
vote , the next thing you will need to ask is what county
he or she lives in . Most will be from only two or three
different counties. However, invariably, you will still
come across someone from some county in the U.P., so
that you'll need to start a new petition. Remember, while
most of our population tends to be in certain areas,
Michigan has 83 counties. Be prepared.
Petition
signatures are not valid if the line includes any ditto
( " " " ) marks. People will often tend
to do this -- especially the spouse of a person who signed
immediately before to indicate the same home address.
Ask signers to, please, not use "ditto" marks.
However, don't make too big a deal of this. You can,
if necessary, fill in the missing info later from the
line above. (The only part of the petition line that
MUST be in the signer's own hand is his/her actual signature.)
It just means an extra step that can be saved if you
get the signer to do it right in the first place.
City
abbreviations (e.g., AP for Allen Park) are also not
allowed . However, as noted above about ditto marks,
you may correct this by inserting the full information
later.
Get
the easy ones
First
and foremost, ask your family, friends, neighbors, and
if acceptable, co-workers to sign. You can easily fill
a petition or two just with names of people you interact
with on a regular basis.
Where
to petition
You
may legally petition on any public property such as sidewalks
and parks, so long as you do not interfere with the flow
of traffic. You may also petition on any private property
where you have the owner's permission , such as supermarkets
or malls.
The
best places to petition are those with large numbers
of people such as fairs, parades, or festivals . Especially
people waiting in lines at such events or waiting for
them to begin. They aren't going anywhere else and they
have nothing better to do than talk to you. Such circumstances
are much more conducive than trying to distract people
when they are on their way to doing something else. A
single petitioner can, for instance, get 100 signatures
or more from people sitting around at a local park waiting
for the 4 th of July fireworks to begin.
Public
places with a constant flow of people are good: outside
of a post office or secretary of state (if the public
sidewalk is near enough to the entrance); in front of
a store or supermarket or even inside a mall (if you
can get permission).
Collecting signatures at polls on election days has
the advantage that you already know all the signers
are registered voters . Two difficulties with
petitioning at polls, however, are that many people have interrupted their
day specifically to vote and will have a get-in-get-out, "Don't distract
me" attitude, and by law you must remain more than 100 feet from the entrance
to the poll. If you decide to work a poll, choose one with lots of people and
work it only during peak hours. If voter turnout is sparse, it's simply not
time-efficient.
How
to petition
Dress
in a comfortable (especially shoes) and friendly fashion.
No suits, fatigues or political T-shirts or buttons.
You can't dress like a member of the Hell's Angels or
a proselytizing televangelist and expect average people
to find you approachable.
Carry two large clipboards -- or pieces of sturdy cardboard with petitions
attached at the ends by rubber bands -- because people often travel in twos.
You will find that more often than not, one person will follow the other's
lead. (In fact, this point applies regardless of the number of people involved.
If you approach a group of five people, for instance, your success will very
likely depend on the response of the first person you ask. You will walk away
with either five signatures, or none. So, use some discretion in choosing which
person in a couple or group you approach.) Having two clipboards will speed
up the process. Also, you will often find that another person will come up
and indicate some interest while someone else is still signing (that herd mentality,
again).
Attach
the pens to each board if you can because they will disappear
if you don't. Bring extra pens because one or two will
still disappear.
Politely
ask first "Are you registered to vote?" If
not, wish them well. Only registered voters may sign
the petition . Signatures by people who are not registered
to vote (who want to help and think no one will notice
that they aren't actually registered) drag down our validity
rate. Despite our best efforts we know that some non-registered
signatures will inevitably get by. Our petitioners are
the first and most important check in minimizing the
problem.
If
they are registered to vote, make certain of their county
of residence and then ask them to sign the corresponding
petition. How you phrase the request depends on what
approach you find most natural. You might be specific,
such as: "Making one parent an occasional visitor
hurts the development of our children so sign our petition
to change this situation. Or you might be more general,
such as: "So that the ‘Children Need Both
Parents’ Initiative will be on the ballot in November." One
petitioner has been successful without mentioning elections
at all, just saying: "Could you do me a favor and
sign this petition?" You'll quickly find what style
works best for you.
You
will run into all sorts of people and most of the time
this is fun. However, there are some out there who are
not playing with a full deck or who will argue politics
at any opportunity. Resist the urge to debate them. It
is highly unlikely that you will change such people's
minds. All that will do is take your time away from accomplishing
the task at hand.
In
fact, don't argue with anyone for any reason. We can
always cross off signatures of people who are obviously
not registered voters, not playing with a full deck,
drunk, or anybody else whose signature you have doubts
about. So just let them sign and take care of it when
they leave. Be as non-confrontational as possible.
Two
Important Final Notes
You
must sign and date every petition you submit as "Circulator" in
the space provided at the bottom right of the petition
for that purpose. The date you sign as Circulator must
be after the last date of the last signature you got
on that petition.
Please
send in petitions even if there is only one signature
on it . Petition sheets with a single signature are perfectly
valid. And every one is a signature we won't have to
make up at the end of the petition drive. Up to three
petitions can be mailed in an envelope for one 1 st Class
stamp. Please send the full ones to us as soon as they
are completed so we can keep track of how we are doing. |
