Walking around campus or around the local community a person may find themselves approached by a myriad of individuals asking for them to sign petitions.

While many will simply choose to ignore these individuals or politely indicate they are not interested, others will choose to stop and may even choose to sign the petition.

As I walked around campus, I noticed a good number of people making the decision to sign, but what became troubling to me was seeing just how many did so without inquiring what it was they were signing.

In fact, many times the petitioners had only to ask if a person was a registered voter and what county they were registered in to get a signature with only a brief explanation, largely ignored, of what the petition actually called for.

This is hugely problematic, especially in a state like ours where petition-driven propositions play such a vital role in the ability of the people to directly influence how they are governed.

We place an emphasis on the importance of each person’s vote and what it signifies to the process we have in place and their voice as a citizen. The signature of a registered voter carries the same manner of weight in determining what California will choose to actually vote for or against on a ballot.

Any proposition you have heard of from previous elections which you disagreed with only wound up on a ballot because of the signatures gathered of registered voters to place it there.

Political organizations and corporations oftentimes are footing the bill to pay individuals to gather these petitions and, according to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, over $1 billion have been spent in the last 10 years to gather these signatures for roughly 1,500 statewide initiatives throughout the U.S.

Yet California has provided legal tools in its Elections Code § 18600-18602 to ensure that any person who does wish to sign a petition can do so with confidence over what they are signing.

Those gathering petitions cannot legally misrepresent the purpose or contents of a petition when asked, must state whether they are being paid to gather the signatures and cannot refuse any person who asks to read the initiative measure petition or Attorney General’s summary.
All a person has to do to know what they are signing is simply ask for the information. It is literally that simple.

To be fair, many will listen to the basic pitch and recognize it is for a measure they support. Others however will still sign without knowing what it is in order to be polite, to get on with their day or because they figure they are just helping the person make some money.

Propositions which can affect millions of lives in California may wind up on a ballot because of those very signatures. Registered voters that simply attach their signature to a petition without knowing what it is for bear a strong responsibility over dictating its future.

So when making the decision to sign a petition, ensure it is because you agree with what it is trying to accomplish, because ultimately it may become a part of California’s laws.

Your signature is worth as much as your vote. Don’t let it go to waste.