The following rules are applicable for committee members who will be collecting signatures for petitions.
- Petition carriers must be a registered Democrat.
- All petition signers must be registered Democrats who are registered to vote in the district where the candidate is running.
- The dates the voters sign must be in chronological order top to bottom of the sheet, June 4, June 6, June 9, etc. (or 6/6; 6/6; 6/9...).
- Petition Carriers cannot sign a petition sheet that they are carrying, because you cannot witness the collection of your own signature. You may sign a different page of a petition if it is gathered and witnessed by a different person.
- Petition carriers must actually see the petition being signed by the voter.
- All signatures must be in blue or black ink. Never use pencil.
- Persons should sign the petitions with the same name as they are listed. Tell the voter how they are registered before they sign to avoid mistakes. 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.).
- The date the voter signs should be filled in when the voter signs the petition.
- The Law requires that the only thing the voter must fill out on the petition sheet is his or her signature. They should use their actual signature, not print their name. The petition carrier can fill in the addresses. We suggest that the voter’s signature is the only information that should be filled out by the voter on the petition. Before the voter signs, you should print clearly and legibly on the petition, in the voters presence, the date. However, it is not wrong or incorrect for the voter to fill in all the information him or herself. If the voter desires to do so, let the voter fill in the information. Just be sure the date, the address, and the printed name are correct and legible and that the voter signs on the correct line.
- Do not erase, cross out, or white out errors. If in error or in doubt, cross out the entire line and go to the next line below the line and have them sign properly. Do not try to correct mistakes after you have left the voter.
- Do not abbreviate names or addresses, except St., Ave., etc. Never use ditto marks.
- No Post Office Box numbers in place of the address of the signer. No zip codes, just the street address and the Village or Hamlet name. Example: 123 Smith Ave. Medford
Larry Tierney - Democratic Party Volunteer 776-9008
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