Before every election, scores of volunteers do the challenging work required by New York state election law to make the democratic system function. It's not glamorous, but it’s essential.
One critical task is to gather hundreds — sometimes thousands — of signatures to help candidates secure a spot on the ballot, a process known as petitioning. And these volunteers don’t want just any voter’s signature: it only counts if the voter is from their specific political party and district.
While candidates sometimes hire people to collect signatures, the 2023 election cycle is dominated by local races where candidates rely on the labor of volunteers and political club members.
Listen to petitioners hit parts of New York City to collect signatures to get candidates on the ballot:
For nearly a month, these volunteers have been out carrying clipboards on street corners, at subway stations and knocking on doors. For candidates seeking to run as a Democrat or Republican in the June primary and November general election, the collection process began on Feb. 28 and will end April 6, with few exceptions.
Petitions will then be filed with the New York City Board of Elections, when potential opponents have the opportunity to challenge their validity.
All 51 City Council seats are up for election, after redistricting changed the district lines last year. Those candidates must gather at least 450 valid signatures (though some argue that number is higher) but most campaigns will gather several times that to fend off potential objectors.
This year, there are also races for district attorney, civil court judge and unpaid party positions like district leader. All of those candidates must gather signatures.
In some parts of the city, there will be competitive primary elections on June 27, with early voting running from June 17-25. But even candidates not facing a primary challenge must collect the required number of signatures to secure their party’s nomination.
Here are a few of those volunteers and how they approach this unsung work.
Dana Rachlin, Giovanni D'Amato and Marva Brown (Democrats)
Location: McGolrick Park, Greenpoint, North Brooklyn
Strategy: Approach prospective voters in the park after school dismissal joined by a candidate who is on the ballot
This Brooklyn crew works the after-school and farmer’s market circuit to gather signatures from registered Democrats in the area. Marva Brown, a candidate for civil court judge who is running unopposed in the primary, needs to collect 4,000 signatures from across Kings County.
On a recent Friday, she teamed up with Dana Rachlin, a district leader for Assembly District 50 and chair of the Kings County Democrats Judiciary Committee. They were joined by Giovanni D'Amato, an assistant principal at a high school in Williamsburg.
“This really does open up the process in that you see the nitty gritty from start to finish. Getting onto the ballot all the way through the finish line,” said D’Amato. “And this is the step right before we go in on Election Day and vote — it's getting someone onto a ballot.”
Phyllis Inserillo (Republican)
Location: Rockaway Beach, Queens
Strategy: Go door-to-door with a list of known registered Republican voters around dinner time
Phyllis Inserillo
For most volunteers, gathering signatures is about showing your commitment to the party and its values. For Phyllis Inserillo, who is a county committee member of the Queens County GOP and a staffer for Councilmember Joann Ariola, the connection is personal and long-standing.
“She’s the first person I ever voted for,” Inserillo said of her current boss. “She actually asked me the year that I was able to register to vote to sign her petition, but I wasn't going to be 18 until that October, and she was petitioning in June.” That was more than two decades ago.
Inserillo used a walk list showing all the registered Republicans in the area so she knows which doors to hit and which to skip. Inevitably, when someone answers the door, there are questions. Inserillo explains the process and why candidates can’t just run without securing enough signatures to get on the ballot. She was also asked where her candidate stands on former President Trump.
“She supports whoever the Republican candidate is,” Inserillo replied.
Gabriel Panek (Democrat)
Location: Lenox Hill, Upper East Side, Manhattan
Strategy: Pick a busy street corner during rush hour and ask voters if they are registered Democrats
Gabriel Panek
Panek has been hitting the streets collecting petitions for more than a decade. He got his start when he volunteered for David Yassky’s comptroller campaign in 2009. The next summer, he said he spent “a very hot July” petitioning in the Bronx for Gustavo Rivera’s campaign for state Senate. He’s been a regular collecting petitions ever since and was one of the founding members of his Four Freedoms Democratic Club, which is one of the largest clubs in the borough.
He said being active in local politics gives him a chance to commune with his neighbors and engage with the local elected leaders who ultimately have the power to make decisions that affect life in the city he loves — from transit spending to increased benefits for workers.
“Local politics is the best place to meet these officials and discuss these important issues with them,” said Panek. “It also helps train our next generation of politicians, many of whom got their start carrying petitions on street corners.”
For him, standing on a street corner repeatedly asking those who pass if they are a registered Democrat in the neighborhood can also mean getting rejected a lot as people hustle by. “It’s a game of attrition,” he joked on a recent Monday. Sometimes he pursues a potential voter on foot, when the person answers “yes” but keeps moving.
On rare occasions, a voter will wait in line to sign his clipboard, offering him words of encouragement. “Keep democracy going,” an older voter from East 77th Street said after signing Panek’s sheet.
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” he replied.
