I've Been Off Wasting My Time on Petitions

I've been writing a lot less lately. That's because I've been very busy. I had a collection of clients this year that I needed to get on the ballot for the 2016 primary. All of them filed enough signatures and should be appearing on the April 26th ballot. It's a long, tiring process, and frankly it's mostly a waste of time. We make candidates gather up signatures from "qualified" voters (those in their party), get the petitions notarized, and turn them in three weeks later. What does that prove? To the proponents, they say it shows minimal support. I don't agree.

Frankly, this is an exercise in asking your volunteers to do something that won't end up helping you much. If you are in Philadelphia or some other areas though, there are no volunteers, and you pay people off of Craigslist, the street corner, or God knows where else, and hope they do the job for you. I'm not sure either of these prove you have real support. They certainly don't have much meaning for the election. Still, we do this every year, because we have to.

I don't really see the point of this, I have to admit. I do it, because candidates need it, and it pays some bucks. I even volunteer for a few (they get a lot less). Petitions are pointless though. Pennsylvania should eliminate the process and have a flat fee to be on the ballot. You'd eliminate real lunatics with the fee, and you'd skip this huge waste of time.