“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.

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