How To Circulate a Petition

** This is an official paper petition that will get this issue onto the ballot and requires your handwritten signature to be valid (not online).

You Can Do This! Video: How To Circulate a Petition

By Jeremy Goodall

Getting Ready:

1) SAMPLE SCRIPT {to print}

2) Initiative {to print 2-sided}

3) Petition Sign-Out Sheet {to print}

(for contact info of those wanting to circulate a petition)

4) Written Instructions How To Circulate a Petition {to print 2-sided}

5) Fact Sheet

Signing the petition means that the signer agrees the issue should come for a vote by the people, regardless how they will vote on the issue once it is on the ballot.

Places to find people to sign: school events, church, concerts, group meetings, Bible Studies, gun shows, craft fairs, gatherings of family, friends, door-to-door asking neighbors, and public sidewalks outside grocery stores and businesses. Most people know forty people, so start with people you know.

How To Ask:

“Hello, are you a Colorado registered voter? Would you help put an important issue in front of Colorado voters?"

“Your signature does not say that you support or oppose the measure, it merely puts the issue in front of Colorado voters to let the people decide, not the politicians.”

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY HOW TO CIRCULATE THE OFFICIAL PAPER PETITION:

Qualifications to Circulate a petition: 18 years old and a US Citizen

Supplies:

Circulator Badge: VOLUNTEER CIRCULATOR (lanyard or plastic name tag holder)
Petition Packet (optional: clip board 8 ½ x 14 or heavy cardboard w/rubber band)
Two (2) black or blue ink pens (attached flag or flower helps)
Suggested: QR code for people to register to vote or check their registration.
Suggested: Copy of initiative someone can read while someone else is signing.
Recommended: water bottle, comfortable shoes, jacket
Optional: extra petitions w/sign-up sheet

TO BE A CIRCULATOR:

Make sure the petition matches this initiative.
Display badge “VOLUNTEER CIRCULATOR” in bold-face type clearly visible
Each petition section may have only one circulator. But a Circulator may carry more than one petition.
Circulator must witness each signature (cannot leave on a table or just somewhere in the room or vicinity).
Talk through each box with Signer; make sure boxes are filled correctly.
Once all signatures are collected, Notarize the packet before returning.

TO SIGN A PETITION:

Must be a registered voter in the state of Colorado at the time of signing. (May register online.)
Use black or blue ink pen only.
Print clearly (to be legible)
Spell everything out (No abbreviations) Date may be numbers. (Example: 12-25-2023 or 12/25/2023)
Complete each box
Do not write outside the box (Stay within the lines)
Use residence address (physical address) where registered to vote.
Sign as your name as you sign your ballot (If you are registered with your middle name, sign with your middle name.)
Sign a petition that someone else is circulating (Do Not sign a petition you are circulating. For your signature to count, you must sign a petition that someone else will notarize as the Circulator.)

If the signer makes a mistake, the signer may draw one line through the mistake and write within the box and initial within the box. If the mistake is multiple boxes or there is no room for corrections, the signer may draw one line through the entire entry and use a different set of boxes.

For Signers with disabilities: The Signer with disabilities places X on the signature line, then in (parentheses) next to it, the Assistant writes their name, and the Assistant fills in all other boxes for the Signer at the TOP area of each box, and then within the SAME box - below the Signer information - the Assistant provides all their information, as well. The Assistant has to be someone other than the Circulator,

Do NOT:

Remove staples (this will invalidate the entire section)
Sign for another person (this is illegal)
Use ditto (“) marks
Provide a po box
Have someone sign after the section packet has been notarized

May NOT:

Knowingly sign more than once (If you forgot whether you signed it, you may sign it. Only one signature will count.)
It is against the law to bribe someone to sign.
Do NOT remove staples, tear, or deface the petition in any way.

For the Signature to be valid:

Stay within the square.
Print as clearly as possible to be legible.
Date accurately
Match voter registration signature & address

For the Packet of signatures to be valid:

Circulator signs the affidavit (last page of the packet) in front of a Notary.
The Notary must have an active commission on file as a Notary.
The date must match between the Notary and the Circulator when notarized. Spell out the date. (Example: January 15, 2014.)
The staples must be in place (if removed, the entire packet is invalid)
Affidavit page must be attached by the original staples within the packet and cannot be separate from the packet (or the entire packet will be invalidated.)

No one may circulate a petition section other than the Circulator who Notarizes the circulator affidavit attached to the petition section (back page).

If the Circulator or Notary makes a mistake, draw a line through, correct, and initial.

Someone may withdraw their signature by filing a written request to the Secretary of State’s office on or before the signatures are filed with the Secretary of State.

Training is available for Volunteer Circulators on the Secretary of State’s website.

To provide an accurate count, please fill all petitions completely with 40 separate signatures. (Even one missing signature, when you multiply by thousands of petition packets, adds up! Every signature is important!)

Make sure to notarize your packet. Some of our Return Events will have a Notary available, or you may ask for a Notary where you bank.

Once you've signed your packet (last page) in front of a Notary, return your packet section, however full, to the one who gave it to you, or at the designated place and time given to you. Please do NOT mail your packet.

Contact your local Regional Team with any questions, or reach out through the contact page of the website: gotaheart.Org.

Please be courteous of others and respectful of the church or organization that has invited you.

But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)

How to Circulate a Petition: Text