FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What is the deadline for online signatures and submitting hard copies of petitions?
   The governor has until June to call a special election and the people must be ready to counter him with thousands of signatures. Send in your completed petitions ASAP to the Fax Number listed at the bottom of the petition.
2. Is this only for California voters?
   The Stop Arnold's Special Election Petition drive is for California residents only at this time.
3. What else can we do?
   See our "Fun" button for a page of fun ways to get the word out. The normal activist routes of letters, phone calls, letters to the editor, etc. are always viable. We do not, however, have any plans for coordinating such activities at this time. Please follow your heart and speak your mind freely and openly. We all need to know we are not alone.
4. Why do we ask for affiliation/special interest on the petition?
   This was put in so that peitiion addressees can gain some perspective on the types of people who are supporting them, be they educator, environmentalists, progressives, members of churches, members of various ethnic groups, etc. While this is not a required field we have reason to believe that it may help to enhance the effect.
5. Who will be able to view the signatures?
   This information will not be distributed publicly. The petition will be used to persuade our governor to drop plans for a special election.
6. Is it better to collect­ hand written petitions or online signatures?
   Many organizations feel that hand petitions have a greater effect. We assume that is because it indicates a few extra minutes were put into the effort. It also helps get the word out because of the signature collectors who have gone out to and directly spoken to people about the campaign. We prefer to use both. We hope to get many hand written signatures. But there is no way that we could possible network to compile a hand petition the size of our online petition in the few short weeks we’ve been collecting signatures.
7. Will you be working with other major petitions such as those of MoveOn and the Progressive E-mail Network?
   We hope to, but there is nothing concrete at this time. We are still getting caught up, but if you would like to help us by making the contact please let us know.
8. I am concerned about your tracking my TCPIP address. What's the story here?
   We understand your concern for privacy. We collect TCPIP addresses, as every websites does every time you visit a page. The reason we point it out is to discourage people from making bogus posts, something we have had trouble with. We will remove your TCPIP address from our database upon your request.
9. What do I say to people who tell me, "This won't do any good?"
   The word is, Arnold is feeling vulnerable now and un-terminator like. Could be because of the nurses, teachers and other public employees he finds accompanying him everywhere these days. Could be his dropping poll numbers. Arnold wants to be popular, yet he's had nothing but bad press for the last month. Every bit of pressure we can bring to bear leads to the tipping point.

   Perhaps, most tellingly, he was forced, by public opinion, to withdraw his public pension initiative. With your help, we intend to continue that trend.

10. Who is ContestTheVote.org?
    We are a group of concerned citizens and activists in California. Most of us are living in the San Diego area. The core members are as follows:
    • Maegan Prentice, Founder of the Community Media Access Project (CMAP) & www.ContestTheVote.org
    • Chuck Lowery, Secretary: CA Electoral College, member North County Coalition for Peace and Justice (NCCPJ), Activist San Diego (ASD), Veterans for Peace (VFP), Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
    • Rick Hall, webmaster for several activist groups including NCCPJ and CMAP, MoveOn event coordinator
    • Doug Hunter, member of North County Democratic Unity, founder of progressive Democrats of San Diego
    • Barbara Gray producer/editor for Community Media Access Project
    • Genevieve Prentice producer/editor for Community Media Access Project, percussionist
    • Shelli Hallidy, Co-Chair of the North County Coalition for Peace and Justice
    • John Falchi, Coordinator of Plan of Action in a Changing Era and Consultant with J. P. Falchi & Associates.