Ever wonder how candidates get on the ballot? They petition – forms from the City of Philadelphia or the Department of State are printed, and signatures are gathered. This is one of the hardest tasks a candidate will undertake on their path to elective office. Candidates and their volunteers are only allowed to gather signatures within a certain period of time. The current petition period began on January 23, 2024 and ends on February 13, 2024 – about three weeks.
There are several ways to get signatures – volunteers sometimes go door-to-door gathering signatures from friends and neighbors. Sometimes, for a Federal race, you will see volunteers outside of SEPTA stops or other public places. Finally, some organizations (like the Ward committees) throw parties and serve refreshments, inviting as many people from their party as they can.
Petition season is just wrapping up. After petitions are turned in to the appropriate authority, volunteers from other campaigns may scrutinize them and look for defects in their opponents petitions. These may include forged signatures, signatures from people not living in the political district in question, errors made in filling out the paperwork – that kind of thing.
It is difficult to gather signatures. I was able to get twenty signatures during this time frame for both our Congressman, Brendan Boyle, and our State Representative, Jared Solomon. I carried both petitions at the same time, and when someone signed one, I had them sign the other, too.
If you would like to review the signatures of a candidate for state office, you may do so at the Candidate Database on the Pennsylvania Department of State’s website, here.