Drafting Your Initiative Petition
We recommend that all petitions include a title that states whether the petition is for a law or a constitutional amendment. Mention the subject of the petition in its title and include the enacting style, a phrase that follows the title of the petition and before the actual text of the petition.
The title and enacting style of a petition should look like this:
Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Be it enacted by the People, and by their authority:
Because initiative petitions are for making or amending laws and not for voting on statements of policy, avoid long statements that describe findings, statements of purpose, or declarations of public policy. These statements could be viewed as advocacy and make your petition inappropriate for certification.
An initiative petition that has been signed or filed cannot be edited, except in the spring after the petition is filed when perfecting amendments can be made.
Suspend Trade Agreement With Faroe Islands Until All Whale & Dolphin Hunts End
This topic was debated on 11 July 2022
Watch the debate for the Suspend trade agreement with Faroe Islands until all whale & dolphin hunts end petitionon parliamentlive.tv
Read the transcript for the Suspend trade agreement with Faroe Islands until all whale & dolphin hunts end petition at parliament.uk
Read the research for the Suspend trade agreement with Faroe Islands until all whale & dolphin hunts end petition at parliament.uk
How Do I Organize An Effective Petition
1. Choose a topic and target. What is the situation you want to change, and who has the power to make that change? Do you want your governor to sign or veto a bill? Do you want your U.S. representatives and senators to co-sponsor a bill? Do you want your state lawmakers to introduce legislation on a specific issue? Its important to have a topic and a target, since your petition is most effective when you deliver it. A target could be a signature from every county, from every Congressional district, or from local organizations. Engage your members by making it a competition between local AAUW branches for the most signatures!
2. Keep the petition language short and simple. Both the signees and targets of the petition should understand what your petition seeks to achieve. Describe the problem and the solution . Then include the ask, or the action you want the target to take . A well-written petition should communicate the urgency of the problem and the need for action. We recommend keeping your petition between one and three paragraphs in length.
Here is sample petition text:
AAUW of North Carolina President Mary Peterson delivered AAUWs petition asking Gov. Pat McCrory to veto a bill that will force nearly all womens health centers in the state to shut down.
To the New Jersey congressional delegation:
We the undersigned join with the American Association of University Women of New Jersey in urging you to pass the federal End Sex Trafficking Act .
AAUW of New Jersey
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Instructions For Filing Petitions
Understand Relevant Protocols And Rules
Many petitions will not need to comply with any specific petition rules or protocols because many targets don’t require strict procedures in the lobbying process. However, petitions written to governments and parliaments will generally need to comply with standing orders, rules, or local regulations.
Standing orders may also have specific additions in relation to internet petitions. Several jurisdictions throughout the world now recognize internet petitions. For example, 10 Downing Street, UK, accepts electronic petitions as does Scotland , Queensland Australia , while the Federal Government of Australia is now considering the introduction of electronic petitions.
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Government Responses To Petitions
The Standing Orders require the government to respond within 45 calendar days to every petition presented in the House of Commons.
You, the supporters, the signatories, and the Member of Parliament who authorized the online publication of the e-petition will be notified by e-mail when the response is tabled in the House. A copy will also be found on the petitions website along with the original petition.
In the event that the government fails to respond to a petition within 45 calendar days, the matter of the governments failure to respond is automatically referred to the standing committee designated by the MP who presented the petition. Within five sitting days of such a referral, the Chair of the committee must convene a meeting to consider the matter.
Helpful Tips For Petitioners
- You are strongly encouraged to contact potential supporters and an MP beforehand to determine that they are likely to accept an invitation to support the petition or to authorize its online publication. While you need a minimum of five supporters to start off with, it is a good idea to provide the names of more than five potential supporters in case one or more of them declines or fails to respond.
- Whether the MP accepts or rejects your invitation to authorize the online publication of the e-petition, he or she may have suggestions to make to you concerning the form or content of your petition. This guidance should be taken seriously, since defects as to form and content may lead to your petition being rejected.
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Other Ways To Petition The Government
Though the Obama administration was the first to allow Americans to petition the government through an official U.S. government website, other countries had already allowed such activities online.
The United Kingdom, for example, operates a similar system called e-petitions. That country’s system requires citizens to collect at least 100,000 signatures on their petition on their online petitions before they can be debated in the House of Commons.
The major political parties in the United States also allow Internet users to submit suggestions that are directed to members of Congress. There are also many privately run website that allow Americans to sign petitions that are then forwarded to members of the House of Representatives and Senate.
What Is A Petition
A petition is a statement signed by a group of people calling on a specific target to take action. For example, you could collect signatures on a petition to the governor urging him or her to sign an equal pay bill. Once youve reached a critical mass of signatures, youll want to deliver the petition to the target so he or she understands how many people support the action you have proposed.
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How To Promote Your Petition
How you promote your petition will have a critical influence on the outcome of your campaign. A key element of promotion is to link your petition url to as many websites and forums and possible for maximum exposure. You may also wish to contact media organizations. Please refer to our help page or contact us for a free consultation.
Why Should You Conduct A Petition Drive
The main reasons that you should conduct a petition drive are:
- To heighten community awareness of your issue
- To bring visibility and recognition to your group
- To lead you to new members and future contacts for your group
- To demonstrate widespread community support for the changes you seek
- To help bring about the changes you are seeking
Beyond that, some good indicators for a petition drive are when:
- There is strong, or at least significant, public support for your issue.
- You believe that a petition could sway key decision-makers.
- Petitioning has not been an overused tactic in your particular setting.
- There are enough people available to collect the necessary signatures in the time you have available.
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Collective Written And Social Action
Collective action can also be organised and facilitated through letter writing and various social networks such as facebook. We recommend that important campaigns launch a facebook fanpage and co-ordinate their GoPetition campaign via their fanpage site .
GoPetition also hosts a successful fanpage and all our members are welcome to join and promote their campaign through our broad facebook network. The GoPetition facebook page also offers the opportunity for our members and campaigners to keep up to date with important campaigns and stories of interest.
GoPetition has progressively integrated into the Internet’s social graph. Our aim is to allow petition campaigners to seamlessly run their campaigns across various social networks. A great example of this process can be seen at the campaign site to Save the UK Film Council.
How To Start A Petition
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure. Eric McClure is an editing fellow at wikiHow where he has been editing, researching, and creating content since 2019. A former educator and poet, his work has appeared in Carcinogenic Poetry, Shot Glass Journal, Prairie Margins, and The Rusty Nail. His digital chapbook, The Internet, was also published in TL DR Magazine. He was the winner of the Paul Carroll award for outstanding achievement in creative writing in 2014, and he was a featured reader at the Poetry Foundations Open Door Reading Series in 2015. Eric holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MEd in secondary education from DePaul University.There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 22,766 times.Learn more…
Petitions are an excellent way to create meaningful change in the world. Whether it’s a complex global issue or simple local election, a petition can get your point across and produce real results. While creating a petition can often look like a daunting and overwhelming task, it’s actually quite easy to start. All you have to do is choose the proper platform, write your petition, and get your audience to sign it.
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How To Organize An Effective Petition Campaign
A petition is a simple yet effective tool in advocacy. With just a little bit of effort, you can generate attention and momentum around an issue, grow your list of advocates, and pressure lawmakers to act. Plus, a petition helps you raise your states or branchs visibility and gain new members!
Below are best practices for collecting signatures on your petition, both online and offline. As always, you can reach out to AAUWs public policy and government relations staff for additional help at .
Certification And Presentation Of A Petition
Once the deadline for signing a petition has closed, the Clerk of Petitions will proceed with a final validation of signatures and will issue a certificate that includes the text of the petition and the total number of signatures, provided that at least 500 valid signatures are present. This certificate will be forwarded to the MP who authorized the online publication of the e-petition and it can then be presented either by this MP or by another MP in the House. A record of this presentation will appear in the Journals for that day and you, the supporters and the signatories of the petition will be advised by e-mail.
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Protect Student Choice: Do Not Withdraw Funding For Btec Qualifications
This topic was debated on 18 July 2022
Watch the debate for the Protect student choice: do not withdraw funding for BTEC qualifications petition on parliamentlive.tv
Read the transcript for the Protect student choice: do not withdraw funding for BTEC qualifications petition at parliament.uk
Read the research for the Protect student choice: do not withdraw funding for BTEC qualifications petition at parliament.uk
Is A Petition Useful For Your Campaign
Petitions can be a useful part of a well-planned campaign.
Before you start campaigning, think through:
- Whats the problem you want your campaign to address?
- Whats the solution to this problem? Do you think it is possible to make this happen quickly?
- If this solution is a very big change that you are unlikely to achieve straight away, are there smaller changes that would be moves in the right direction?
- Who has the power to make the change you want to see?
- How will you put pressure on these people to make the change?
- What change would make your campaign a success?
Petitions show that a lot of people feel strongly about an issue. This is especially useful if the number of people who agree is very large. If your campaign is unlikely to engage a very large number of people, other campaigning tools may be more useful.
A letter-writing campaign can have more impact than a very small petition. A press release can raise awareness.
A public meeting can encourage more people to get involved.
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Replace The Real Bearskins Used For The Queens Guards Caps With Faux Fur
This topic was debated on 11 July 2022
Watch the debate for the Replace the real bearskins used for the Queens Guards caps with faux fur petition on parliamentlive.tv
Read the transcript for the Replace the real bearskins used for the Queens Guards caps with faux fur petition at parliament.uk
Read the research for the Replace the real bearskins used for the Queens Guards caps with faux fur petition at parliament.uk
What Your Contribution Supports
Influence over decision makers
Two 11-year old Calgary students started out with a science project about plastic waste. With help from Change.org, their project grew into an international campaign asking Starbucks to reduce their impact on the environment. After collecting over 340,000 signatures, their campaign influenced Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson to invest $10 million USD to develop a fully recyclable and compostable cup.
Two 11-year old Calgary students started out with a science project about plastic waste. With help from Change.org, their project grew into an international campaign asking Starbucks to reduce their impact on the environment. After collecting over 340,000 signatures, their campaign influenced Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson to invest $10 million USD to develop a fully recyclable and compostable cup.
Expert campaign advice
Change.org is more than a website. We help people and their communities win by providing them with world-class campaigning, media, and activism coaching. Join us as a member, and youll help us continue this work.
With support from our campaigns team, a group of young activists delivered over 1 million signatures calling on Californias judicial system to deliver justice to survivors of sexual assault.
With support from our campaigns team, a group of young activists delivered over 1 million signatures calling on Californias judicial system to deliver justice to survivors of sexual assault.
Better activism technology
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Biden Disables Online Petitions
On January 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden took office, the We the People web pages address started redirecting to the White House’s website home address. First reported by the anti-imperialist website antiwar.com and the Ron Paul Institute, the circumstances of the online petitioning system were investigated by Newsweek, reporter Mary Ellen Cagnassola, who received no comment from the White House when seeking comment for a fact-checking article on the Ron Paul Institutes claims on the removal. Newsweek states that the We the People system is no longer to be found on the White House website, noting that, The reason behind its removal has not been released.
In reality, the We the People petition system had very little substantive effect during the ten years of its off-and-on operation. Many federal processes and all criminal proceedings were off-limits to prospective petitioners, leaving the system functioning mainly as a public relations tool for citizens to express themselves and communicate their concerns to the White House. Few, if any petitions were acted on, and many frivolous petitions were created, such as the playful 2012 petition calling on the federal government to create a Death Star as an economy-stimulating enterprise.
Whether the Biden Administration will respond to calls to reactivate the online petitioning system remains in question.
Using Local Press And Social Media For Support
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