Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why are notaries important?
A notary acts as a universal unbiased third party to ensure that legal documents are prepared and signed correctly. Each signature page that a petition circulator collects must be notarized before it is turned in to the Secretary of State.
2. How do I become a notary?
Go to the link below on The Missouri Secretary of State’s Office website and follow steps # 1-4 as listed (https://s1.sos.mo.gov/Business/Notary/newNotary).
Here is a document that takes you through this online process step by step (https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Business/Notary/NotarySBS_11042015.pdf).
After you have successfully done these steps and submitted your application, you have 90 days to obtain the $10,000 notary public bond. This can be purchased by a personal insurance agent, a bank, or bonding company. It costs roughly $50.
3. What date do I need to become a notary by?
The sooner the better! The process is not a one day ordeal so don’t wait until the last minute. It depends on how long the Secretary of State takes to mail your commission letter to your home address. From there you must go to the Circuit Court’s Office of the county you reside in order to take oath, assuming you already have your $10,000 notary public bond ready. You can use the following link to look up your location. https://www.courts.mo.gov/#findacourt
4. How do I sign up for a shift?
Sign up to be a notary by filling out the notary form.
5. Who would I report to?
You should report to your team leader. This will be assigned to you all when you have completed the notary process and filed out the volunteer form.
6. How much does it cost?
The application is $25 to submit on the Secretary of State’s website. The public notary bond and $10,000 of E&O insurance combined are roughly $50 for the entire 4 years. However, there will also be other costs for your required supplies (self-inking notary stamp and metal embosser seal).
7. Can I get a reimbursement?
If you need financial assistance, please indicate this on the volunteer notary form linked here.
FAQ Team Lead
1. What is a team lead?
Team leads play a crucial role in our signature collection efforts. Team leads are organized, reliable and communicative. Team leads work to ensure the success of their teams by being available and responsive. Team leads manage a team of 10 volunteers that they select or are assigned to them.
2. What am I responsible for?
As a team lead you will be responsible for leading a group of volunteers to collect signatures for the #StopTheBans Referendum. Each team will have a target goal of approximately 3,000 signatures. You will plan your groups signature collecting dates, times and locations. You will keep up with the signature collection efforts of all of your volunteers. You will check in with your team members regularly. Team leaders will also need to relay this information to the regional director.
3. Who do I report to?
You will report to your regional director. You will be given the name and contact information for your regional director.
4. How many shifts do I need to do?
This is about a 45 hour commitment.
5. Is this paid?
This is an unpaid volunteer position.
6. How many members should I have on my team?
You should have 10 members on your team. Each team member will have a goal of collecting 3,000 signatures. This will vary for each congressional district and will likely be significantly lower. This is a high end estimate.
7. What are my weekly duties and goals?
Your weekly duties include checking in on your team members to see how signature collecting is going for them and canvassing with your team. You will be responsible for getting a daily total of the number of signatures from each team member and ensuring that all petitions make it to a notary and to verification drop points.
8. How to sign up to be a team lead?
You may indicate your desire to be a team lead here.
9. What happens after we gather signatures to my position?
After we gather signatures and the volunteer position officially ends we would still like for you to continue to engage with the work being done at the ACLU of Missouri. We will not be done with reproductive justice. We will still need a large group of engaged volunteers to do voter education throughout the state leading up to the election. We also anticipate working on future campaign and would love you to continue to be involved in our work! Sign up to volunteer with the ACLU of Missouri here.
FAQ Signature Gatherer
1. How do I sign up to volunteer?
In order to volunteer for the ACLU of Missouri you will need to fill out our signature gatherer form.
2. How do I get on a team?
We will assign you to a team.
3. Where do I attend a training?
There will be several opportunities to attend a training. We will send out communications through our volunteer email. We will also socialize are events on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We will have a webinar on June 18th at 7:00 p.m.
4. Where do I take my petitions?
Please turn in all petitions to your team leader right after you canvass. It is critical that you return to the canvass site and debrief with your team so that your signature pages can be notarized.
5. Can I print my own petitions?
No, please do not print your own petitions. As many petitions as you need will be provided for you at the training site.
6. How often can I go out to gather signatures?
You may go out and gather signatures as often as you like. Please let your team lead know when you are going out and where so that we can coordinate efforts and ensure notary availability.
7. Who do I report to?
As a volunteer you are to report to your team leader. You should have your team leaders name and contact information. You should be in contact with your team leader on a regular basis.
8. How long is a shift? How do I sign up?
Shifts are four hours. You can sign up by filling out the signature gatherer form.