Petition and flyer with NC Greens on Tuesday, November 8 (presidential Election Day). Supporters like you across the state are helping to get the North Carolina Green Party and our future candidates on the ballot in this state by collecting petition signatures from registered voters and flyering for Jill Stein outside voting precincts. This is absolutely the #1 day of our petition drive and of the election to collect signatures and to ask people to write in Jill Stein for president. With your help, we can collect tens of thousands of signatures in just one day and get tens of thousands of people to write in Jill Stein. With your help, we can make history in North Carolina and get the Greens on the ballot for the first time.

 

 

Remember, we’re asking you to please take Election Day off work if you can—or to otherwise make arrangements so you can commit to three hours or more of petitioning. Some of us will be petitioning all day. If you can commit to that, excellent! If you can’t, please commit to as many hours as you can.

 

 

On this long instructional page, you'll find:

 

• A link showing all voting precincts for you to choose from for Election Day, November 8.

• The petition to print out. Make at least 10 copies.

• A flyer for printing out that says “Write in Jill Stein for President.”

• Facts to know about collecting signatures.

• Regional coordinators who will answer your questions, share petitioning resources, and provide you with other materials.

• Instructions for returning your petition sheets after Green Ballot Day.

• Contact info.

• A petitioning script and tips for best results.

 

 

VOTING PRECINCTS FOR ELECTION DAY

On Election Day, we suggest you go to a voting precinct near you that you think will be the busiest. Alternatively, simply go to the precinct you vote at. Precincts near you can be found at the State Board of Elections website here: http://vt.ncsbe.gov/pollingplace_search/.

 

 

PETITION SHEET

Download and print out the North Carolina Green Party petition sheet here: http://tinyurl.com/NCGP-PetitionSheet.

 

We recommend you bring at least 10 blank copies of the petition, a few black or blue pens, and at least two clipboards. Polls might be very busy. Two or more clipboards is best to keep signers from having to wait. If you can meet with one of our coordinators prior to Ballot Day, you can get petition sheets from the coordinator.

 

 

WRITE IN JILL STEIN FLYER

While petitioning, you can also tell people to write in Jill Stein for president. Download and print out our “Write In Jill Stein” flyer here: http://tinyurl.com/WriteInFlyer. If you can meet with one of our coordinators prior to Ballot Day, you can get flyers from the coordinator. If Jill gets 2% of the vote in North Carolina, it will result in a ballot line for the NC Green Party. But if she fails to get 2%, then we need to collect enough petition signatures to establish a ballot line. So we are attempting to achieve a ballot line both ways: via 2% of the NC vote and via petitioning.

 

 

FACTS ABOUT PETITIONING

• All voting precincts across North Carolina are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. November 8.

• Any registered voter (Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or unaffiliated) can sign the petition.

• State law says you have the right to petition 50 feet away from the entrance to a polling station. Usually the polling station staffers will have hung a sign marking the 50 feet or drawn a line on the ground. But sometimes not. Know your rights in case anyone questions you: it’s 50 feet.

• The county name must be written at the top of the petition sheet. Only signers in that county may sign that petition sheet. Bring blank sheets in case you encounter people from other counties.

• Signers must fill out their row completely: printed name, home address, city/town, DOB, signature. Legibility is important. Make sure that they actually sign after filling out the other info.

• Signing the petition does not sign a person up for the Green Party in any way; it doesn’t mean they’re a Green, and we won’t contact them. The petition sheets go to the Board of Elections.

 

 

MEET UP TO DISCUSS GREEN BALLOT DAY & GET MATERIALS

Do you have questions about petitioning or about Stein/Baraka? Do you want to learn how to get as many signatures as possible from a wide variety of registered voters? Do you need free campaign flyers, merchandise, and blank petition sheets? Then please connect with our regional Ballot Day coordinators around the state before Election Day to talk. Coordinators will provide free campaign T-shirts, blank petition sheets, flyers, a petitioning script, and other merchandise (merchandise available on a first-come, first-serve basis) to people who attend.

 

 

Asheville
Eddie Milanes, 828-552-4782, [email protected]

Winston-Salem
Tony Ndege, 336-577-1421, [email protected]

Wilmington
Rebecca Stutts, 910-233-2942, [email protected]

Durham
Jan Martell, 919-682-2472, [email protected]

Carrboro / Chapel Hill
Wayne Turner, 919-491-3186, [email protected]

Charlotte
Shawn McDowell, 704-244-1944, [email protected]
Tommie James 704-280-3070, [email protected]

Cary/Raleigh
Michael Trudeau, 314-337-2154, [email protected]

North Raleigh
Kyra Moore, 984-220-0094, [email protected]

Jacksonville/Morehead/Onslow
Jackie Lunger 910-546 -9603, [email protected]

Sylva
Tracy, 828-552-4782, [email protected]

Lenoir/Caldwell
Mark, 828-265-6873, [email protected]

Hickory
Tracy, 828-640-2416

 

AFTER GREEN BALLOT DAY

After you’ve collected your signatures for the day, please bring the sheets home, tally up the number of signature you collected, and reply to the contact person who sent you this email to let them know your count. There are two options for turning in your sheets:

1. Mail the sheets to:
   Ballot Access Coordinator
   North Carolina Green Party
   703 Cleveland St.
   Durham, NC 27701
   
   

2. Meet with a designated representative in your area to turn them in. We'll provide more info on that
   
   Either way, your contact person will follow up with you.

 

 

 

CONTACTS

If you need help the day of November 8 or have questions beforehand, please try the following organizers:

Jan Martell, 919-682-2472

Michael Trudeau, 314-337-2154

Wayne Turner, 919-491-3186

 

 

 

PETITIONING SCRIPT

We developed the following script after much practice collecting signatures from all kinds of people. This script takes an effective approach that appeals to conservatives, liberals, and leftists alike. Remember that the goal is to get as many signatures as possible; the goal is not to convince people that the Green Party is for them. The script is pasted below. But it's also available for download at http://tinyurl.com/Petition-Script. If you can meet with one of our coordinators prior to Ballot Day, you can get a script there.

Petitioner: Excuse me, may I have a moment before you leave today?

[[Not "Do you have a moment?" Because most people are more likely to say no, they don’t have time, than to say no to doing you a favor.]]

Petitioner: I'm with the Green Party, and I need to collect signatures from registered voters just so we can run candidates in this state. Right now the state doesn't allow us to run candidates—and we want to and think we should be able to. I'm wondering, if you agree we should be able to run candidates, are you willing to sign our petition?

[[Get to the point. Don't lead with ideology. Frame it as an issue of the state against our freedoms—an idea that attracts conservatives, liberals, libertarians, and leftist people alike.]]

Potential signer: Well, what's the Green Party? Why the Green Party?

Petitioner: The Green Party is a separate political party. We’re not Democrats or Republicans. We believe we need more than just two parties to vote for and that competition and diversity make for a healthy political system. We don't think we have a healthy political system in [State] or in Washington, and so we think a third or fourth party is needed to get the two major ones to change and actually get things done.

[[Again, avoid ideology if possible and get people to sign based on 1) freedom and 2) the need for a change. Most Americans claim they do not identify as either Democrat or Republican even though they might be registered as one, and most think the political system is broken.]]

Potential signer: Well, yeah. But what kinds of things do the Green Party stand for?

Petitioner: We believe in quality education for all people, quality health care for all people, a quality environment in which to live for all people, including things like clean drinking water. We believe these things are rights and that the Democrats and Republicans are not providing them to us.

[[Again, avoid specific ideology or policy if possible. Name positive examples everyone agrees with: Even conservatives believe in quality education and health care, but we don't need to say what exactly we have in mind to achieve those things, unless we’re specifically asked.]]

Potential signer: Well . . . I'm not a Green. I don't want to sign up and get emails from you and stuff.

Petitioner: Any registered voter can sign this petition—I get Democrats, Republicans, and independents who sign it. It doesn't mean you're signing up with *us* or you're gonna vote for us or even that you necessarily agree with all our positions if you sign this petition. If you sign, it just means you think we have the right to run candidates for office and that maybe you think we need more than two options to vote for. This petition sheet goes straight to the Board of Elections. Our party doesn't use the info in any other way, and we can't. The info is for the Board of Elections; all they do is check your name and info against voter registration info in your county.

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PETITIONING TIPS

• Be aggressive but friendly. Smile. In parking lots, flag down cars by holding up a finger and mouthing, "One moment?" and pointing to your clipboard. People will stop.

• Don't discriminate when asking people to sign. Ask everyone to sign. We are continually surprised by who will sign and who won't.

• Don’t lead with “Ralph Nader” or “Jill Stein” or Green ideology. Lead with the oppressive state limiting our right to run candidates for office.

• Carry two or more clipboards with a petition sheet on each one so people don’t have to wait to sign.

• Make sure the signer fills out the row completely: printed name, address, city/town, DOB, signature.

• When petitioning outside voting precincts: If a person is hurrying into the voting station, ask them if you may have a moment of their time on their way out.

• In North Carolina, you have the right to petition 50 feet away from the entrance to a polling station.


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Michael Trudeau
Vice Chair
North Carolina Green Party