Initiative

ers waiting in line at the March 22 presidential preference election and those who voted in person at the May 17 special election rejected his requests to sign petitions. "Half the voters I approached declined to sign. Some expressed hostility," said Ruland, who noted that the process is just to qualify something or someone for the ballot, not necessarily endorse or vote in favor.

A solution in e-signatures?

So what to do? One not insignificant answer may be an expansion of Arizona's electronic-signature program, which debuted as a pilot program in the 2012 election under the auspices of Secretary of State Ken Bennett. The program, E-Qual, allows candidates for statewide offices to collect up to half of the required signatures for the nominating petitions via the web.

Registered voters click on a link that takes them to a secretary of state site. To "sign" the petition, they're required to provide their name, date of birth and their driver's license. (Yes, it's tied to the Motor Vehicle Division database.)

To date, there have been no documented problems with the system. It has won recognition from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, among others, and this year was widened to include congressional offices (it won't take effect until the next election cycle) and to allow 100 percent of signatures to be gathered online.

If anything, E-Qual suffers from lack of widespread knowledge. According to Secretary of State Michele Reagan's office, only about 14,500 individuals have signed a petition electronically since 2012 (though with 32,700 signatures logged, they each signed an average of 2.5 petitions.)

Potential roadblocks

Reagan says she could see herself supporting expanding the program to citizen initiatives, for the ease and convenience. "We've got to meet voters where they are, and, increasingly, it's in the virtual space," she said.

So why isn't it a done deal already? Reagan said she knows some lawmakers balk at the concept and cite their belief that the petition process should be a "face-to-face interaction." She said there are also those, primarily in her party, who fret that online petitions may favor counties with greater internet access and allow larger, more metropolitan counties to be the main drivers of initiatives.

But of course those are the challenges that exist with the current paper system. And few can argue that more folks aren't conducting their daily affairs — not just business — online.

Plus, if it's political engagement we seek, especially of the Millennials, a shareable platform seems a no-brainer.

It certainly would be a potent tool to galvanize grass-roots efforts without costing hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

Still, all this is as meaningful as a blank petition until Arizona lawmakers act.