Political Candidate Petition: Get Lots of Signatures!

A quick word about your candidacy petition for local races: as a rule of thumb, make sure you get as many signatures as you can.  We do this for a couple of different important reasons.

First, members of the opposing party or your opponent’s campaign will probably make a point of checking all of your signatures to see if they can invalidate any of them.  Reasons for invalidation can include having signatures from people who aren’t registered to vote; signatures of people from the wrong political party; and even people who simply fill the form out incorrectly.

(In most local races, you will be required to gather a certain number of signatures from registered voters who are either of your party or Independent.  In my city, for example, fifty signatures are required to get your name on the ballot as an at-large council candidate.  You must turn in these signatures to your local Board of Elections by a certain date, and they will certify the signatures before they put your name on the ballot.)

It’s likely that some of your signatures will be invalidated for one reason or another, which means that if you only got the exact amount of signatures needed that you will be in trouble.  By getting dozens or even hundreds more signatures than you need, then you will be ensuring that invalidated signatures won’t sink your campaign before it even starts.

The second reason why it’s a good idea to get as many signatures as possible on your petition: because it gives you a great list of possible supporters, volunteers and donors for later in the campaign.  If a person has agreed to sign your candidacy petition, then they must have some positive feeling about you; additionally, they already know your name and are invested in your campaign.  Every person who signs your petition is almost certainly going to vote for you.

And remember, there’s no rule that says you can’t get as many signatures as you want on your candidacy petition!

So, where do you get your signatures?  For lazy politicians, this is never a problem; they just circulate their petitions among party workers and volunteers who already know them.  These types of campaigners usually don’t get many more signatures than they need, since it would take too much work for their tastes.

But this is how your campaign will differ from theirs, since you know the value of hard work and dedication (we hope).  If you really want to start your campaign with a bang, you can get a list of eligible voters from your local board of elections or party chairperson, then go about personally visiting as many of them as you can to ask for your signature.

If you have the funds available early on, you may want to consider writing a letter to local voters who are registered in your party and asking them to give you a call if they are interested in signing your petition.  It can be just as effective, however (although more time consuming) to take your list of eligible voters and actually spend a weekend driving to their homes, knocking on their door and introducing yourself.

Starting your campaign off in this way will build great momentum for the coming election season and impress a core group of voters who will be more likely to donate, volunteer and cast their ballot for you.  Remember: hard work gets votes in a local election, and your candidacy petition is no exception from the rule.