Can we even do this in DC?

[DarioBianco]

• Contact the DC Board of Elections to clarify requirements for electronic signatures and inquire about whether it would consider signatures on a third party app valid.

[DarioBianco]

I sent the DC Board of Elections an email, and will update this task when I receive a response.

The requirements below are from the following document, which I'm assuming is current and in effect: Circulating and Filing Nominating Petitions

• All candidate petitions can be circulated... electronically...
• To circulate petitions electronically, candidates can request digital, PDF versions of their petitions, and then share the PDF version of the petition with qualified petition circulators to gather signatures from voters.
• A circulator must personally witness the signing of each signature on each petition sheet for which they sign a circulator’s affidavit.
• a signer who is affixing their digital signature to a petition sheet should also be the circulator of that sheet and
  complete and sign the circulator’s affidavit accordingly. (See the addendum on page 5.)
• Similar to written signatures, digital signatures must be authentic to the signer; font scripts cannot be used.
• When the qualified petition circulators finish gathering signatures, they can submit the petition sheets to the candidates electronically...
• Candidates must submit hard copies of completed petition sheets to the Board.
• When the petition is printed, the formatting must match the original document.

[DarioBianco]

Below is the section of the election statute concerning petition circulation and a sample of a mayoral petition template for the 2026 Primary Election is attached:

1-1001.08(b)(1)(A) No person shall hold elected office pursuant to this section unless the person has been a bona fide resident of the District of Columbia continuously since the beginning of the 90-day period ending on the date of the next election, and is a qualified elector registered under § 1-1001.07.

(B) Repealed.

(C) Repealed.

(D) Any candidate for the position of Attorney General shall also meet the qualifications required by § 1-301.83 before the day on which the election for Attorney General is to be held.

(2) Only qualified petition circulators may circulate nominating petitions in support of candidates for elected office pursuant to this subchapter. The Board shall consider invalid the signatures on any petition sheet that was circulated by a person who, at the time of circulation, was not a qualified petition circulator.

(3) All signatures on a petition shall be made by the person whose signature it purports to be and not by any other person. Each petition shall contain an affidavit, made under penalty of perjury, in a form to be determined by the Board and signed by the circulator of that petition which shall state that the circulator is a qualified petition circulator and has:

(A) Personally circulated the petition;

(B) Personally witnessed each person sign the petition;

(C) Inquired from each signer whether the signer is a registered voter in the same party as the candidate and, where applicable, whether the signer is registered in and a resident of the ward from which the candidate seeks election; and

(D) Not written, altered, corrected, clarified, or obscured information on the petition about the signer of the petition after the signer affixed their signature to the petition.

(3A)(A) Petition sheets circulated in support of a candidate for elected office pursuant to this subchapter shall be filed with the Board in hard copy but may be electronically provided by the:

(i) Board to the candidate;

(ii) Candidate to a qualified petition circulator; and

(iii) Qualified petition circulator to the candidate.

(B) No signature on a petition sheet shall be invalidated because the signer was also the circulator of the same petition sheet on which the signature appears.

Mayor Petition 2026 PE - SAMPLE.pdf

[DarioBianco]

A new version of the Circulating and Filing Nominating Petition document was released: online here (revised 1/16/26)