Petitioning
In a free Republic petitions are a powerful tool to effect change in government. They can be used to air grievances, push for laws (or to alter/remove unjust laws) and even to recall elected officials in many states.
Petitions come in different flavors - there are legal petitions, political petitions, and public-purpose petitions. And while we may be familiar with "online" petitions, those do not have any real legal standing - they serve only to show popularity of an issue, which may or may not produce results. Still, in some instances where the only need is to show that an issue has strong support, online petitions are simple to create.
Political Petitions
A
valid political petition follows the rules set by the state or federal
government. A political candidate files a nominating petition to
indicate that she has enough public support to justify including her
name on the ballot. Each signer must sign the form personally, be a
U.S. citizen, a registered voter, live in the candidate's election
district and include a home address. Petitions to recall elected
officials follow similar rules. Ballot initiative petitions include the
specific wording of the ballot question and follow the same signing
conditions as other political petitions.
Here is a Petition that can be used to urge your state legislature to implement specific laws governing your state elections. (It will look different when you actually print it). We urge people in every state toorganize a petition drive, get these printed up and get as many signatures as possible. Since it takes time for legislatures to actually get bills written and voted on, it is suggested you complete the drive and submit your petitions to your state legislature not later that October 2021. Time is of the essence.
Public-Purpose Petitions
Public-purpose
petitions are the type you will most likely want to use for most
issues, as you can use them to ask officials to take, or not take, a
particular action. Organizers can direct petitions to an individual, a
government body or an administrative department. They can ask for
mundane or sweeping public-policy actions, such as installing a stop
sign or establishing a universal health-care system.
There
are no legal requirements for public or viral petitions, but the most
successful ones follow a traditional format. They include a brief,
clear statement of purpose, supporting facts, a request for action and
actual signatures of citizens. Organizers should deliver them to the
person, group, or department with the power to make the change that the
public wants. Community organizers often arrange media photo
opportunities to present thousands of petition signatures to government
officials.
While public-purpose petitions are not as
effective as personal meetings or individual letters, legislators know
that those signatures represent people who care about that issue,
probably enough to affect their votes.
Legal Petitions
A
legal petition asks a court to issue a specific order in a pending case
or lawsuit. Attorneys file the petitions according to the court's rules
of civil or criminal procedure. The judge's decision whether to grant
the petition depends on many factors, including legal precedents,
arguments of the opposing party and the facts of the dispute.
