Petitioning involves asking voters for their signatures in order to influence legislators and make law. As a petitioner, you will speak directly with the public about what PMA is doing – promoting bills to help limit the influence of Big Money on our political process – and why we’re doing it.
1. asking people to sign our petitions, and making sure that they do it correctly.
2. gathering up the sheets of signatures and handing them in to your petitioning coordinator.
See below for more information on How to Petition.
You should ask people you know, such as friends and family, coworkers, people you know in your church, clubs, and other civic organizations. However, most signers will be people you don’t know – “friends you haven’t met yet.” You’ll probably find that petitioning is fun, and a great way to meet like-minded people.
You can go it alone but you can also join a team! Contact us at 978 808 7173 or passmassamendment@gmail.com, and we will direct you to people who are petitioning near you. You can also sign up for our Action-List to see who else may be petitioning in your area.
Please note that the Action List, which is monitored, is intended for sharing information pertinent to this signature drive, such as great events for petitioning, like festivals, or outreach to other petitioners to join forces or trade ideas.
1st, gather your materials: Click here to get the petition forms from our website, and bring the other stuff you’ll need: Here’s what we suggest you bring with you. You could use a sign to attract attention! (Some people like to and others don't.)
2nd, choose a place: Pick a spot where lots of people go. Movie lines and other places are waiting, crowded street corners, and in front of supermarkets and other stores. (If in front of stores, make sure to stand outside the door, close enough to be near the foot traffic, but do not block the foot traffic.) Click here for suggested spots to petition.
Note!! Small gatherings are good for discussions of the issues, and large gatherings are better for getting more signatures quickly.
3rd, ask for signatures!
* “We're trying to get Big Money out of politics," * "We're asking voters to sign the petition so that we can put these questions on the ballot in 2020," * "It's not to vote yes or no right now. It’s just to put the questions on the ballot."
* **Do not** highlight, underline, or write "see other side."
* **Do not** put your initials or any other designation on the petition sheets.
* **Do not** mark on the petition form itself where you left off from the previous session. Use stickie notes as described below to keep track of your "numbers."
* **Do not** scribble on the form to get the pen started. Instead, use a scrap piece of paper.
Check out this great videofrom MassPIRG about the do’s and don’ts of petitioning in Massachusetts. It’s very helpful!
Here's a graphic that you may find useful:
Organizing the forms in the field can be a challenge. Here are a few suggestions:
To help you report to coordinators how many signatures you gathered that day/week:
At the end of the day, take a stickie note and put an arrow on it. Then place the stickie on the form so that the arrow is on the last signature you got that day. You can also write the date above the arrow, and the next date that you get signatures below the arrow. Do this for each town you got signatures for. Write only on the stickie notes, NOT on the petition forms themselves.
Click here for instructions on what to do with the forms after you’ve gotten a bunch of signatures.
Petition Instructions JPEG.JPG |
Petition Instructions JPEG.JPG |