Every petition needs signatures to show that there is support for this issue and to hopefully get the powers to be to make the changes you suggest. How many petitions you need depends on many factors. If your petition is about a local issue, you should have the signatures of 100% of those affected by the current situation and the suggested changes. When everyone concerned is in support of changing the situation as it exists, then you will get results.
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rIn most cases you need to have the majority of the signatures of a group in order for the petition to be recognized as valid. State governments, for example, require that the number of petition signatures (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/animal-welfare) you have be a percentage of the voters in the region. Since this varies from one state to another, you should make sure you check it out before you submit the petition to ensure that you have the required number.
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rThe more petition signatures you gather, the better the petition will be. You should not stop when you have the required number. In the case of a petition, more is better, so you should collect as many signatures as you can. The signatures must also be valid stating that those who did sign their names do believe in this cause.
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rHow do you gather the petition signatures that you need? In a conventional citizen petition (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/corporate-accountability), you have to ask all the people to whom you speak to sign the petition after they read your petition statement. You can accomplish this in several ways, one of which is to physically canvas an area going door to door and speaking to all the homeowners.
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rThe people who sign your petition must be of voting age, which means that in one home you can collect more than one signature if there are several adults living at this address. Another method of gathering signatures for a traditional petition is to set up a table in an area where you have access to a large number of people. As they pass along, ask them to sign your petition.
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rIf you have an online petition, you have the ability to collect a very large list of petition signatures. When people visit your site and decide to sign the petition, they do so by typing in their name and giving their email address. You can only have one signature for one email address. When you have this type of petition, you have to be very cognizant of checking the email addresses to ensure they are legitimate.
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rThere is no easy work to collecting petition signatures. Online petitions are easier because you do not have to go outdoors or actually speak to anyone. However, you do have to promote the petition in order to get the support that you need.
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rThis means emailing the link to everyone you know and asking them to forward the link to their contacts. You have to check on the petition on a regular basis to make sure that the emails are valid and that an unscrupulous person is not trying to thwart your efforts.
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rWhen you feel you have enough petition signatures, then you can submit it to the appropriate person whom you hope will take a good look at the changes you suggest and take action on them.