What do you think about signing petitions? Does it do any good? Or just get you on more email lists? Or other lists

[Amaryllis]

you'd rather not be on? Like many of you, I get several requests each day to sign petitions for various groups and causes. I don't sign because I don't think they are effective and I definitely don't want to get on any more lists.

[murielm99]

1. The only petitions I sign are

nominating petitions for candidates.

[efhmc]

2. If I find one without a plea for money at the end, I might respond. But I do not see that they are effective.

[tinrobot]

3. I generally don't do petitions

Unless it's an actual state/city petition that adds something to the ballot.

The online ones do nothing but put you on spam lists.

[sop]

4. Official citizen Initiative petitions allowing citizens to bypass governing bodies by placing proposed statutes and

constitutional amendments on the ballot are a great idea. Simply signing a petition created by some group in support of a particular cause is usually pointless.

[Amaryllis]

5. Agree. I wasn't including initiative petitions.

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. I assume you are talking about internet petitions?

Internet potions exist for two reasons, and two reasons only:

To collect your personal data;

To use or sell that data for dubious fund raising, little of which goes to the stated cause or candidate.

No internet petition has ever resulted in substantive change

Susan Collins (or any other politician, ever) has never taken to the senate floor and said “I was going to vote against this bill, but because of the thousands of people who signed this petition, I have been convinced to support it”.

[LogDog75]

7. I believe petitions are basically useless

On any issue, you can find enough people to to sign a petition asking the local/state/federal government to make a decision supporting the petitioners position. It makes a small group of people appear to have more influence than they really have. In most instances, local officials have already made up their minds so the petitions have little to no effect on them.

[Jacson6]

8. Online Petitions are solely for collecting email addresses that the person or business can sell to marketers.

They also have no real meaning. IME.