We have a two part process to verify the petitions.
First, using the Petition Eligibility System developed by the County Information Technology Department, we look up each signer. We verify that the person is registered and has put down the address we have in our files. We also look to make sure that the other components required by law are there: printed name, date, and the complete wording of the amendment(s) on the page.
We call this Stage 1.
In Stage 1 we have processed 25,010 names on the White petitions.
19,268 are valid.
The rejection rate is 22.95%.
We have completed Stage 1 for 52.55% of the number needed to put the white petition on the ballot.
In Stage 2 we check the signature on the petition against the signature on the voter registration card. If the worker thinks they are not the same signature we make a copy of each signature and put them in the "Disputed Signature" file.
This is a very slow process.
I do not have any exact numbers for Stage 2 but after two and a half full days there are less than a dozen names in the Disputed file.
Greg Mackay
AOE