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Petition Drive
Management System
Updated 4/13/2011
Note: We initially
planned to conduct the petition drive ourselves, paying circulators
$1 per signature, but later decided that contracting with a
signature-gathering firm would be no more expensive and more likely
to succeed. The following was our rough design of the system we
would use if we did it ourselves. This system was part of our
business plan.
We will need a
computer system to do several things for us:
-
keep track of the
number of signatures we’ve gathered for each initiative (so we
know when we are done)
-
verify that
circulators are registered to vote in Michigan and that petition
signers are registered in the county named at the top of the
petition
-
keep track of the
number of valid signatures each circulator has gathered so we
can write paychecks
-
accumulate payroll
information so we can report to the IRS and send 1099 forms to
circulators at the end of the year
-
keep track of
processed petition forms so stored forms can be retrieved if
questions arise
We have obtained from
the state Bureau of Elections a copy of the Qualified Voter File (QVF).
It has over 6 million voter records. We plan to use it to verify
that our circulators are registered in Michigan and that petition
signers are registered in the county named at the top of the
petition. We might also use it to provide walking lists to our
circulators. A walking list is a list of registered voters on a
specified street, in house number order. The QVF file is updated
once a month. Each copy costs us $22.50.
Processes
Recruiting
circulators/initial package:
We will begin
signing up circulators a month or so before April 15. They will
contact the Committee by phone or email or by sending a request
using a form on our website (that form is ready to go). Our staff person will send them a
package that includes petition forms,
instructions, a
payment form to collect social security number and bank information
should the circulator choose direct deposit, and an envelope for
returning the petitions to us, with postage paid by the
Committee.
The person sending
the package will enter into the system the following information:
New Circulator
Setup
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Name (Last,
First, MI) |
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Street 1 |
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Street 2 |
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City |
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Zip |
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Date Initial
Package Sent |
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The return
envelope will have our address and USPS Business Reply Mail
information printed on it.
A postage sticker
for the package will be printed with the
Stamps.com program,
based on weight calculated by a digital scale plugged into our
computer.
Processing payment
forms:
The first package
of petitions received from a circulator should include his
payment
form and direct deposit info. A staff person will look up the
circulator in our system and enter the following information:
Add Circulator's
Payment Info
Johnson, Brenda
Gail
Circulator ID #: 12345
Date Initial Package Sent: 05/14
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Street 1 |
1234 Mandalay
Blvd |
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Street 2 |
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City |
Roscommon |
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Zip |
49234 |
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SSN |
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No pay
indicator |
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Bank # |
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Account # |
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The payment form is then
scanned and the image file is saved using the circulator number
as filename.
Processing petitions:
To each petition,
a staff person will affix the date received and a petition
number. Petition numbers could be on tiny sticky labels printed
by the computer with a serial number generating program.
The petition is
then reviewed, looking for problems that would invalidate the
entire petition, such as no circulator signature. If the
petition is OK, the staff person will review the individual
signatures for problems. (We have a
document from Secretary of
State that tells which irregularities are acceptable and which
are not.) The Qualified Voter File is checked to
make sure each signer is registered in the county, and if he is,
a transaction is done to record the petition number and
signature date to this voter's record in the QVF file:
Post Petition
Number, Signature Date
Williams, Elaine Ruth
3412 Taylor St
Lake Orion, MI 48906
County: Oakland
|
Initiative |
Petition # |
Date
Signed |
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Eliminate
Senate |
123456 |
05/23 |
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Repeal Pera |
123457 |
05/23 |
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Ban CB |
123458 |
05/23 |
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RTWork |
123459 |
05/23 |
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This is done so
that if the voter signs the same petition again,
the signature will be rejected and the circulator won't get credit.
A line is drawn
through each invalid signature. For each reviewed petition, the
staff person will enter into the system the following
information:
-
Petition/sheet
number
-
Circulator
number (obtained from our system by searching the circulator
file using the circulator’s name)
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County code
(01-83)
-
Initiative
code (1-4)
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Invalid sheet
indicator (Y or N)
-
Invalid sheet
reason code
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Number of good
signatures
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Number of bad
(removed) signatures
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Date signed by
circulator
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Earliest
signature date
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Date received
Petition
Info
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Petition
number |
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Circulator
number |
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County code
(01-83) |
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Initiative
code (1-4) |
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Invalid sheet
indicator (Y or N) |
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Invalid sheet
reason code |
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Number of good
signatures |
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Number of bad
(removed) signatures |
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Date signed by
circulator |
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Earliest
signature date |
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Date received |
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When the
transaction is complete, the sheet is scanned and the file is
saved using the sheet number as the file number.
When all the
petitions submitted by a circulator have been processed, a new
package is sent to replenish his supply. (Circulators will be
informed in the initial instructions that they will be sent
another batch of blank petitions when they submit completed
ones, so if that’s not what they want, they should include a
note.)
Files
QVF file:
The QVF file is
obtained from the Bureau of Elections, and contains over 6
million records. We will modify the file to remove any fields we
don't need and add 8 new fields: the petition number and date
signed for each of the 4 initiatives. The Bureau of Elections
updates the file monthly, so we will need to match their new
file with ours, adding new records and removing records that no
longer appear.
Circulator file:
Circulator name,
address, SSN, circulator ID number, pay/no pay
indicator, bank number, account number, total valid signatures
gathered, accumulated payment total, payment method (check or
direct deposit), date initial
package sent.
Circulator payment
file:
Payroll number,
circulator number, date, payment amount
Payroll file (to be
submitted to payroll agency):
Circulator number,
name, address, payment amount, payment method (check or direct
deposit), bank number, account number
(We could also do
our own payroll using
Intuit
Online Payroll.)
Sheet (petition) file:
Sheet number
(number assigned to each returned petition form), sheet image, initiative
code (identifies the initiative: eliminate senate, repeal PERA,
right-to-work, ban collective bargaining for state employees),
county, circulator number, valid/invalid sheet indicator,
invalid sheet reason code, number of good signatures, number of
removed signatures, date signed by circulator, date received,
paid indicator, payroll number
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