Petitioning Tips for New York Candidates
Practical advice for candidates starting the petitioning process in New York — from signature collection strategies to solicitor eligibility and early validation.
Tom Goldenberg
Petitioning Starts Now — Here's What You Need to Know
Petitioning starts for candidates in New York today. Here are a few suggestions based on what we're seeing with Petition Validator:
1. Stick With Doors or Risk High Variability
If you use a voter file list to collect signatures, your likely accuracy goes way up (80%+). Collecting signatures at public spaces like grocery stores or subway stops is fine, IF you are checking the validity.
You're lucky to get 50% validity in public spaces, but it can be as low as 0%.
2. Always Check the Solicitor Eligibility
If the solicitor's information is off, the whole page can be invalidated. It's important that your solicitor name and address be correct.
Also check the solicitor's registered party. In a Democratic primary, an unaffiliated solicitor can invalidate the whole sheet.
3. Validate Early, Validate Often
Don't wait until the due date to check your valid count. That's why we created [Petition Validator](https://www.petitionvalidator.com) — to get accurate counts of valid signatures in near real-time.
This saves stress, time, and money, and is the smart thing to do. Sign up today or reach out for more information.
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