The Pennsylvania primary on April 22 is an excellent opportunity for petitioning parties to collect many signatures. The Constitution, Green, Libertarian Parties, and independent Ralph Nader, are all circulating a petition to get on the Pennsylvania ballot. Petitioning at the polls on primary day is one of the best techniques for petitioning, because virtually everyone standing in line to vote, or leaving the polling place, is a registered voter. Pennsylvania this year requires 24,666 valid signatures for statewide petitions. Members of the petitioning parties should consider taking some time off from work, or at least using some evening time after work, to petition next Tuesday.
Unfortunately, I know that a lot of states have “laws” saying that a person has to be a certain distance from a polling place before they can engage in 1st amendment activities. Fortunately in Pennsylvania it is not that bad since the distance they make you stand from the polling place is 50 feet. In some states it is 100 feet and in others it is 150 feet. In Nebraska it is 200 feet. The further they make you stand from the entrance to the polling place the harder it is to gather petition signatures. Over 100 feet renders most polling places useless for petitioning.
At all the polling places I have worked in Pennsylvania I have been told 10 feet. Also, I had better results with voters coming out of te polls rather than going in. Going in the candidates’ poll workers jump on them like rabid hyenas. When they come out they are suprised anyone wants to talk to them. “Want more choices in November?” works well.
FYI Reform Party of PA is petitioning candidates for Congress and State Rep in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh).
When I was in Pennsylvania, the law was 10 feet from the polling place. Unfortunately, many poll workers are a law unto themselves. Even if they know the 10-foot rule, they often have their own idea of what constitutes the “polling place.” It’s always good to have the phone number of the Board of Elections and/or an attorney on hand, though often just standing your ground is enough.
I agree with Tom that it’s more effective to petition voters who are leaving the polls. They’re often not too enthused about their choices.
The primary is a particularly good opportunity when a party has several local candidates running in overlapping districts. You don’t have to juggle multiple petitions, and you get a much higher accuracy rate because you don’t have to guess which precinct anyone lives in.
I am a Pennsylvania voter and I find “running the gauntlet” to be very intimidating! In fact, it really pisses me off so I definitely agree that getting people on the way out (when the jackals are no longer interested) is the best tactic.
If, as a petition signature gatherer, you can prevent yourself from doing anything to piss off the “jackals”, sometimes they (the jackals) find the idea of talking to the voters as they leave the polls so unique that they will actualy direct people to you. The key is to remeber why you are there — to collect signatures — NOT to get into issues related screaming matches with folks who aren’t there to vote (the jackals).