Online Petition - E-government Petitions in The United States

E-government Petitions in The United States

On September 22, 2011, President Obama's administration created We The People, a platform that gives all American citizens a way to create and sign petitions on the White House web server, https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions. Any American 13 or older, after creating a WhiteHouse.gov account, can make or sign a petition asking the Obama Administration to take action.

The White House originally required petitions to gather 5,000 signatures within 30 days, after which time policy officials in the administration would review the petition and would issue an official response. However, as of October 3, 2011, petitions must gather 25,000 signatures in 30 days in order to get reviewed by Administration officials. After more than 12,000 people signed a petition in October 2011 asking if the U.S. government had contact with aliens, the White House issued an official statement via the White House Office of Science and Technology. The statement said that the White House has found no evidence that extraterrestrial life exists in the universe or that another life form has made contact with the planet Earth. According to spokesman Phil Larson: “In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye.”

Other groups are attempting to establish electronic petitioning as a way to streamline and make existing citizens' initiative processes more accessible.