Many ask whether an e-petition is an acceptable alternative in our work towards adding a Term Limits for US Congress Amendment to the US Constitution. Yes it is and I will explain why.
The only ways to add an Amendment to the US Constitution are defined in Article 5 of the US Constitution and neither can be done with a vote on a ballot. One option is done through a vote in Congress and then ratification by 38 States.
The second option is when 34 States call for an Article 5 Convention for a topic. At the convention the topic is discussed and the verbiage of the Amendment defined, then voted on. If it passed the vote at the convention, it must then be ratified by 38 States just like the first option.
Now here is where the discussion of hardcopy v e-petition comes in. IF you are trying to put something on a ballot for the people to vote on, most States require a hardcopy petition signature. But, in a case such as adding an Amendment to the Constitution, since the only options do not include the ability for people to vote on it, a "formal" petition is not required. An "informal" petition, which can be either hardcopy or e-petition, does the job.
The point of the petition signatures is to submit the petitions to the State Legislators when requesting that they apply for an Article 5 Convention for Term Limits.
Since State level elections are often won or lost by a few thousand votes, setting a stack of 100,000 petition signatures from constituents in the legislator's State carries a great deal of pressure.
We have set a goal of 3 to 5 million signatures nationwide. That averages 100,000 signatures per state, which we believe will provide the pressure to push the State Legislators to support applying for an Article 5 Convention for Term Limits.
The only ways to add an Amendment to the US Constitution are defined in Article 5 of the US Constitution and neither can be done with a vote on a ballot. One option is done through a vote in Congress and then ratification by 38 States.
The second option is when 34 States call for an Article 5 Convention for a topic. At the convention the topic is discussed and the verbiage of the Amendment defined, then voted on. If it passed the vote at the convention, it must then be ratified by 38 States just like the first option.
Now here is where the discussion of hardcopy v e-petition comes in. IF you are trying to put something on a ballot for the people to vote on, most States require a hardcopy petition signature. But, in a case such as adding an Amendment to the Constitution, since the only options do not include the ability for people to vote on it, a "formal" petition is not required. An "informal" petition, which can be either hardcopy or e-petition, does the job.
The point of the petition signatures is to submit the petitions to the State Legislators when requesting that they apply for an Article 5 Convention for Term Limits.
Since State level elections are often won or lost by a few thousand votes, setting a stack of 100,000 petition signatures from constituents in the legislator's State carries a great deal of pressure.
We have set a goal of 3 to 5 million signatures nationwide. That averages 100,000 signatures per state, which we believe will provide the pressure to push the State Legislators to support applying for an Article 5 Convention for Term Limits.
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