Verify Petition Signatures

This topic explains how to accept or reject a voter's petition.

To verify petition signatures as accepted or rejected:

On the PETITIONS tab, verify that the current petition (and batch) in focus is the one you want to work on. If not, change the focus to the correct petition (and batch).
Click Verify Signatures.
On the Find a Voter dialog, search for the voter who signed the first petition in your stack of paper petition forms. You can select to search your local database (Local Search) or the statewide FVRS database (FVRS Search).

If you are unable to locate the voter, click Unknown Voter. When recording an unknown voter, it's important to type the entire voter name from the petition into the name fields, since this information will appear in petition reports.

On the Petition Verification dialog, verify that you have the right voter by comparing the voter's name, address, and date of birth onscreen with what was entered on the petition.

If you have the wrong voter, click Close and repeat step 3.

If the voter's address is different from what is on record, see Process an Address Change on a Petition.

If the voter is not eligible to sign the petition—for instance, because they don't reside in the district in which the candidate is running or are ineligible to sign for some other reason—the Save Signature button will be disabled and a rejection reason will appear in the Reject Reason field. Click Close and proceed to the next petition for verification.

In the Circluator field, enter the code for the Paid Circulator to be assigned to the petition. Paid Circulators can be assigned to multiple petitions. This drop-down list displays only circulators that have been marked as Active. If you want the same Circulator to be present for the next voter, select the Remember check box next to the Circulator field.
Note: If the user is unable to locate the required circulator in the drop-down list, see the topic Petition Circulator Codes.
In the Signed field, enter the date the petition was signed by the voter. Compare it to the date displayed in the Open Date field (and Candidate File Date if a candidate petition). The signing date cannot be prior to these dates; otherwise you will get a rejection message when you try to accept the signature. Also, the signing date must be on or after the voter's Registration Date.

If you want the same Signed date to be present for the next voter, select the Remember check box next to the Signed field.

In the Received field, enter the date the petition was received in your office. The Received date cannot be prior to the Open Date or Candidate File Date. If you want this date to be present for the next voter, select the Remember check box next to the Received field.
Compare the voter's signature onscreen with the signature on the petition.

If multiple signatures are on file, you can scroll through them by clicking the blue arrows and beneath the signature clip.

If the signature image is unreadable or not positioned correctly in the signature window, click View Image. Then, holding down your mouse button, drag the mouse to draw a box around the signature. Release the mouse button and click Save Sig Posn to update the signature clip.

Do one of the following to accept or reject the signature:
- Accept
  1. Select Accepted from the Reject Reason drop-down list.
  2. Click Save Signature. The accepted-petition details are displayed in the Last Action on this Petition for this voter field.
- Reject
  1. Select a reason for the rejection from the Reject Reason drop-down list.
  2. Click Save Signature. The rejected-petition details are displayed with the voter's name. Click OK.
On the Find a Voter dialog, find the next voter who signed the petition and repeat this procedure, beginning with step 4.

Note: The message Petition required Target of <number> has been met appears when you click Save Signature when the number in Number-of-Signatures-Req on the Petition Maintenance dialog has been verified. You can still continue to verify signatures after this point, but you will continue to see this message. Click OK to dismiss the message and continue verifying signatures.

About date fields:

In the Signed and Received field, acceptable date formats are dd/mm/yy or dd/mm/yyyy.
All petitions have a "start date" when signatures can begin to be collected; the dates are entered into the petition record when it is created. For candidate petitions, the start date is either the Candidate Filing Date or Date Treasurer Appt Filed date. For initiative petitions, it's the Date Petition Opened. During signature verification, Voter Focus compares the date the petition was signed with these dates. A petition signed prior to the start date will not be accepted. See Candidate Petition Filing Dates for more information.

For related information, see:

Petition Signature Verification—An overview of signature verification in Voter Focus.
Undo Verification of a Voter's Petition Undo the disposition—either acceptance or rejection—of a voter's signature on a petition.