Petition Carriers | Raise the wage! Greensboro, NC Minimum Wage Campaign
Greensboro, NC Minimum Wage CampaignŐs Petition

Information for Petition Carriers...

the petition | announcements | deadlines | FAQ



Announcements

In case you haven't seen it yet... We now have a handy one page summary of counterpoints to some of the arguments you might hear as you're collecting signatures. Check it out here.



Upcoming Deadlines

December 1, 2008

  • To everyone carrying a petition now: First photocopied & notarized petition (with signatures, of course!). Our first deadline for rolling submission of signatures to the Board of Elections is coming up in December.
  • Haven't gotten 100 signatures yet? Keep working at it! And if, on December 1st, you still need a few more to fill up your petition, don't worry. Turn in the petition you have so we can get those signatures validated, and then start in on a new petition.
  • Our goal for the December turn-in is 3,000 signatures.


    • FAQ for Petition Carriers

    Q. How many signatures do we need?

    A. The simple answer is that we need 8,438. This is 25% of the total number of voters in the last Municipal election, held in November 2007. We will need to get more signatures than that, however, because some number of signatures will be disqualified in the signature-by-signature review conducted by the Board of Elections. We may need to collect more than 10,000 signatures to get 8,438 valid signatures.

    Q. Why are some signatures disqualified?

    A. Signatures get disqualified for one or more reasons. The most common reasons are:

    • The name and address are illegible, so it cannot be verified.
    • The person is not a registered voter in the City of Greensboro.
    • The person is registered to vote in Greensboro, but the address they gave doesn't match the one in their voter file.
    • The person signed the petition more than once. Second, third, etc. signatures are invalid.

    Petition carriers can reduce the number of disqualified signatures by ensuring that all names and addresses are legible, asking whether the signer is registered to vote in the City of Greensboro, and asking them if the address they are giving is the same as the one on file with the Board of Elections.

    Q. How many months do we have to collect signatures?

    A. Technically, we have 12 months from the date the petition was registered with the Board of Elections (September 25, 2008) to collect signatures. But strategically, we need to file our last signatures on or before June 1, 2009, in order to have time for the next phase in the process to play out, and still leave time for getting on the ballot in the Fall, 2009 Municipal Elections.

    Q. Will we file signatures as we go, or all at the end of the process?

    A. Every 90 days along the way to the June 1, 2009 deadline, we will be filing all the signatures we have collected so far with the Board of Elections. This makes it easier on the Board of Elections - they don't have to verify as many signatures all at once that way. Plus it lets us know how many signatures have been ruled invalid, so we can adjust our goals accordingly. We'll be filing on or around these three dates:

    • December 24, 2008 (Goal: 3,000 signatures)
    • March 23, 2009 (Goal: 3,500 signatures)
    • June 1, 2009 (Goal: 3,500 signatures)

    Q: What do I do when I have completed getting signatures on a petition?


    1. Get your petition notarized. Go to any notary and ask them to witness your signature on the last page of the petition pack. This affirms that you personally witnessed each signature on your copy of the petition. (If you need to be reimbursed for the roughly $3 notary fee, we will pay you back.)
    2. Photocopy your signature pages and notarized back sheet.
    3. Deliver both copies of the petition to Kimber, Jonathan, Erica, or Nego at: 1101 West Florida Street, Greensboro NC 27403.

    Q: I have filled up one petition pack with 100 signatures, and I want to get some more signatures. Where do I get another copy of the petition pack?

    A. Contact Fahiym Hanna, or send us an email

    Q: I have a friend who wants to be trained to carry the petition. Who do we contact?

    A. Again, contact Fahiym Hanna, or send us an email

    Q: What happens after we get enough signatures?

    A. The City Council either has to enact the ordinance or put it on the ballot for voters to approve or disapprove. It is very important that we pack City Council chambers when they discuss it - sometime in the summer of 2009! Be ready for the next phase in this political fight!