Petition Signing Dos and Don'ts

As your petitions are legal, notarized documents, the following procedures are important.

1. The candidate must file a copy of the Statement of Financial Interest* when filing petitions. For more information on the SFI, please see your County Voter Registration Office (Contact information below.). *Note: This does NOT apply to committee people.

2. First day to circulate petitions is Tuesday, February 16. Do NOT circulate petitions before this date. To help you find registered voters in your area, the county must provide you with a walk list.Please make sure you make them available to your petition circulators.

3. You have 3 weeks to collect signatures. Last day to circulate and file petitions is Tuesday, March 9. Petitions must be filed by 4:30PM on March 9, or you will not be on the ballot!

4. Check party affiliation. If you are a Democrat, only Democrats may sign and circulate your petitions. *If you are cross-filing, make sure that persons circulating your petitions are collecting signatures from persons affiliated with the appropriate party. Separate petitions must be circulated for each party. A discrepancy will nullify the signature and may nullify the petition.

5. Check voting district. Persons NOT living in the district in which you are running may not sign or circulate your petitions. Bottom line: If the person cannot vote for you, they may not sign for you.

6. Petitions must be notarized. You (the candidate and /or circulator) may NOT sign the petition until you are in the presence of a notary.

7. Signature and printed name must match. Do NOT use nick names or abbreviations. Example: If your registered name is Robert, do not use Rob or Bob, etc.

8. Address must be voter registration address, NOT mailing or post office address. Example: Kenwood Drive, Bethlehem, PA is the mailing address. Kenwood Drive, Hanover Township is the voting address.

9. If multiple members of a household sign the petition, ditto marks or 'same' may NOT be used. Each signatory must print his/her address and full name individually. Failure to do so will invalidate the signature.

10. Penmanship matters. Please be be as clear as possible. Illegible signatures may be discounted.

11. The number of required signatures varies depending on the type of office being sought. Check with your County Voter Registration office for details. Collect more signatures than you need. A lot more. This will ensure that any invalid signatures will be compensated for.

12. If you have any questions during the petition circulating process, please contact your County Voter Registration office.

Northampton County:
Northampton County Voter Registration
670 Wolf Ave.
Easton, PA 18042-4343
Phone (610) 559-3055
Fax (610) 559-3736
Email: election@northamptoncounty.org

Lehigh County:
Lehigh County Government Center
17 South Seventh Street
Allentown, PA 18101-2400
Phone 610-782-3194
Fax 610-770-3845

Note: Petitions for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and state-wide offices are to be filed with the Bureau of Elections, Department of State, located in Room 305, North Office Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120.