Circulating via email and posted on web pages, a petition covering numerous aspects of the Illegal Immigration issue is trailblazing a unique approach to giving Washington a piece of the people's minds.
The Petition on Illegal Immigration can be found at several sites, including: http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/14708.html and http://thenewsociety.us/petition-on-illegal-immigration.htm, and is quite unique in its method and its approach to petitioning.
Unlike the typical petition campaign, where volunteers with clipboards haunt the malls and entrances to supermarkets, (where signatories may or may not be represented by the official it is sent to) this petition is different. Each signatory sends their own individual copy to their own elected officials. Posting both the text and a downloadable document on the internet allows individuals to print, sign and mail the petition; or they can cut/paste into email which they send to their Representative and Senators. Rather than presenting a petition with thousands of signatures, the elected officials receive thousands of individually signed letters and emails from their own constituents.
Also, unique from most petitions is the fact that, while the overall document presents a comprehensive position on numerous facets of a very complex issue, the petition allows the signatory to endorse only those individual provisions with which they agree, while withholding their endorsement of others. Thus many people who disagree with one or more aspects of the petition but support the overall concept may lend their signatures to those parts with which they agree, rather than forgoing signing the petition at all.
"We want our our elected officials to get a real picture of what the lawful citizens of the US think of Illegal Immigration and what to do about it" said one of the petition's sponsors. "We would much rather see congress receive a flood of petitions with a variety of provisions endorsed or passed on, than to receive a fraction of that response – only from those who wholeheartedly agree to every sentence."
Another unique aspect is that the petition's instructions ask signatories to send the petitions only to the signatory's own elected representatives. "It will be most effective if the document is sent only to these specific officials as you are their constituent. Sending a copy to Ted Kennedy if you don't live in MA is not going to influence him. Sending it to Dick Durbin if you are a resident of IL might make an impact."
Copyright © 2006 by Doug Edelman
Doug Edelman is a conservative political commentator and a contributing editor for The Conservative Voice, and his work is also seen on News By Us, The American Daily, The Post Chronicle, New Media Journal, Capitol Hill Coffee House etc. None of these pays him, so for the support of his family, he is also an IT Consultant/Contractor and owner of a Computer Services Business. He has taught PC Maintenance & Repair and Networking at his local Community College, and maintains a blog at http://edeldoug.blogs.com/.
