Guide To Designating Petitions (Page 3 of 4) in pdf

After you have gathered a page of signatures (note: you do not need to gather all ten

signatures on each page), the petition carrier must complete the “Statement of Witness” by

printing his/her name in the first space (as it appears on your voter registration), printing

his/her street address (including the City – also, exactly as it appears on your voter

registration) in the section blank space, writing in the total number of signatures gathered on

that page, and then dating and signing at the bottom.

Step 7: After you are finished gathering signatures, assemble all the pages in

chronological order and submit them to the campaign office

DO NOT complete the “Sheet No.” at the bottom of each page. This will be completed by the

campaign office when they assemble all the petitions together. Be sure to submit your

petitions as soon as possible so that the campaign can verify all your signatures in advance of

submitting to the Board of Elections. Petitions must be filed with the Board of Elections

during the designated days. Any signatures gathered after the due date will not be valid.

RULES FOR GATHERING SIGNATURES

(1)

Petition carriers must be residents in the State of New York and registered and enrolled

voters of the party for which they are circulating petitions before they start gathering

any signatures.

(2)

All petition signers must be enrolled voters who are registered to vote in the district

where the candidate is running. They cannot have signed anyone else’s petition, and

cannot have partaken in the nomination of any candidate of any other party for this

election.

(3)

Petitions may be carried for 24 hours a day, seven days a week beginning on the first

day of petitioning. Do not begin gathering signatures until the petitioning period

starts. If you do, the Board of Elections can invalidate those signatures.

(4)

The law requires that the voter must identify himself/herself to the petition carrier to be

the individual who signed the petition sheet. Thus, using your voter list, ask for the

voter by name: “Hello, My name is _________, may I speak to [insert the name of the voter

from your walking list]?”

(5)

Petition carriers must actually see the petition being signed by the voter.

(6)

All signatures must be in blue or black ink. Never use pencil.

(7)

Persons should sign the petitions with the same name that they used when registering

to vote. No one may sign for another person. Women must sign their own first name

and not their spouse’s. Do not use titles (Mr., Mrs., Dr., etc.).

(8)

The date and address should be filled in when the voter signs the petition.

Guide To Designating Petitions Page 3