So what is the course of action after the set amount of signatures are attained? does it go to the president directly? is it put in file "13"? Getting the signatures is great! But what happens after that?
From the
Terms of Participation page at the petitioning website:
The White House will respond to petitions submitted through We the People that comply with these Terms of Participation and reach the second signature threshold listed below. Petitions on We the People must meet the first signature threshold in order to be publicly searchable on WhiteHouse.gov. Petitions that do not meet these signature thresholds will be removed from the site after the time limit has expired. The White House may elect to respond to petitions at any time, including those that have not crossed the first or second threshold.
To avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition.
The White House reserves the right to change the time limits and signature thresholds and apply them to petitions created after the change has been published to this Current thresholds section:
AS OF JANUARY 15, 2013:
To cross the first threshold and be searchable within WhiteHouse.gov, a petition must reach 150 signatures within 30 days.
To cross the second threshold and require a response, a petition must reach 100,000 signatures within 30 days.
The Terms of Participation were updated on January 15, 2013. View our Terms of Participation Archive page to see the previous version
I am curious if the 25,000 number that we seem to be under the impression of goal to reach has been updated in way that renders under current petition to be something that won't be responded to?
Edited: I see on reread that the part I underlined in quote above won't have bearing on our petition at 25,000 threshold.
In the FAQ section it does say the following:
There are two critical thresholds for We the People. First, a minimum number of signatures is necessary for the petition to be publicly listed on We the People and searchable. Second, a minimum number of signatures is necessary in a given amount of time in order for the petition to be reviewed by the White House, distributed to the appropriate policy officials within the Administration and receive an official response. This response will be posted and linked to the petition on WhiteHouse.gov, as well as emailed to all of the petition signers. Petitions that do not cross this threshold in the given timeframe will be removed from the site.
You can always view the current signature thresholds on the Terms of Participation page.
Also on the FAQ page:
Yes, the threshold will change. This is the first time the White House has attempted a project like this. As more people use this tool to tell the White House about the issues that matter to them, we may find that we need to adjust the signature thresholds for petitions to appear publicly on the site or for petitions to receive a response from the White House. New signature thresholds will only be applied to petitions created after the changes are made.
And also on FAQ page that I think answers my earlier question (and is what I'd call very bad news):
Note: I edited this post, and realize it is not 'very bad news.' 25,000 is goal to reach for this current petition. I hope.
What happens to a petition if it doesnt reach the petition signature thresholds?
Petitions that do not reach the threshold for official response will be removed from site.
If everything I'm conveying here is accurate, I would just say count on other petitions moving forward on this issue concerning vaping, and plan to reach 100,000 signatures, not 25,000.
