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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
CITY CLERK DEPARTMENT
CANDIDATE GUIDE
HOW TO CREATE A NOMINATION PETITION ONLINE
For the Nov. 3, 2020 Phoenix Election for Mayor and Council Members for Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7, candidates
may choose to collect up to the minimum number of required nomination petition signatures using the
Secretary of State’s Office (SOS) online petition portal system (E-QUAL). The use of this system is authorized
by Arizona Revised Statutes § 16-317 (A).
Using the E-QUAL system, mayoral candidates can collect up to 1,500 signatures and council member
candidates can collect up to 200 signatures. In addition to electronic petitions, paper petitions will still be
accepted and are encouraged as a supplement to the online signatures for the purpose of building a cushion.
When circulating petitions in hard copy, please make sure the information on the paper forms matches the
information on the electronic forms.
Petition circulation begins Thursday, May 7, 2020. Before any signature is collected, a Statement of Interest
form must be filed with the City Clerk’s Office.
Filing of petitions will be between June 6, 2020 – July 6, 2020.
All petitions and other required nomination petition filing documentation must be filed in the City Clerk’s
Office by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, July 6, 2020. Please note, the City Clerk’s Office will be closed on Friday, July
3, 2020 in observance of the Independence Day legal holiday.
For candidates who do not wish to use the E-Qual system, the existing hard copy nomination petition
process as outlined in the Candidate Information Packet can still be used as an alternate option for the
November 2020 election.
Please contact the Phoenix City Clerk Department with any questions at 602-262-6837 or
phoenixelections@phoenix.gov.
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
Table of Contents
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
CREATE AN ACCOUNT OR LOG IN IF YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT .................................................................... 3
CREATE A CANDIDATE ................................................................................................................................... 4
CREATE A PETITION ....................................................................................................................................... 5
HOW TO SHARE A DIRECT LINK TO YOUR PETITION ..................................................................................... 7
HOW TO VOID A PETITION ............................................................................................................................ 8
HOW TO CLOSE A PETITION .......................................................................................................................... 9
HOW TO PRINT A PETITION ........................................................................................................................ 10
HOW TO SEARCH AND EXPORT VOTER SIGNATURES ................................................................................. 10
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
CREATE AN ACCOUNT OR LOG IN IF YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT
1. GO TO THE ONLINE PETITION PORTAL FOR LOCAL OFFICES
https://apps.azsos.gov/apps/election/eps/Portal/
Please note, candidates for the City of Phoenix CAN NOT use the regular Arizona Candidate Portal for
federal, legislative or state candidacy. Phoenix candidates must use the petition portal for local offices.
2. CREATE NEW ACCOUNT
If you have never used E-QUAL, click ‘Create
New Account’ from the top menu bar or ‘Sign
Up Today’ on the home page.
If you have run for a federal, legislative or
state office, you can sign in using the same log
in information (user name/password) that you
have used in the past to sign in to the AZ
Candidate Portal.
3. FILL OUT THE FORM
Fill out the form and click ‘Create My
Account’.
You should get a message saying that a
confirmation email has been sent to your
email. Go to your email inbox. Open the
email that was sent from the Arizona
Secretary of State. Click the link inside to
confirm your email. You should now be
able to log in to the petition portal. If you
are not seeing the e-mail after a few
minutes, check your spam folder.
4. LOG IN
Enter your account email address and
password and click ‘Log In’.
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
CREATE A CANDIDATE
1. CLICK ‘ONLINE PETITIONS’
Click ‘Online Petitions’ in the top menu.
2. CLICK ‘CREATE A NEW CANDIDATE’
Click ‘Create a New Candidate.’
3. FILL OUT THE FORM
Fill out your candidate information and click ‘Save Candidate Information’ at the bottom when you are
done. Please note that the information entered here will be auto-filled in when creating your petition.
Click the candidate name and edit the information. Any changes here are only good for new petitions. If a
petition is currently open, any changes made here will not be reflected on the open petition.
CAMPAIGN MANAGERS: If you are a campaign manager and will be monitoring multiple candidates, you can
do this by following the above steps and creating additional candidates. The candidates will be listed for you
to view.
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
CREATE A PETITION
1. CLICK ‘CREATE NEW PETITION’
This button is found to the right of the candidate name.
From the drop-down menu under
‘Jurisdiction’ select City of Phoenix.
Under ‘Election Year’, 2020 should auto
populate. Under ‘Office’ select which
office you are seeking (Mayor or District
#). Double check you selected the
correct options.
Click ‘Next’ to go to the next screen.
Note: If there is only one option in a
dropdown, that option will
automatically be selected for you.
2. CANDIDATE INFORMATION
The candidate information is auto-filled
from the ‘Create Candidate’ form. In this
form you can update all the fields.
The last two boxes of this form ‘Campaign
Email Address’ and ‘Campaign Phone
Number’ are optional fields for voter
information/education. Please note this
information will be displayed on your
petition form for public viewing.
When typing your name in the ‘Candidate
Name’ field, please place your name as
you would like it to appear on the ballot.
Full residential addresses are needed,
please do not put PO Boxes in any address
field.
Please review other important reminders for candidates listed on the next page before completing this form.
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
Important Reminders for Candidates:
1. When typing your name into the ‘Candidate Name’ field, type your name as you would like to see it
appear on the ballot.
2. In the ‘Address’ field, a physical (residential) address is required. Do not enter any PO box addresses.
3. Review the information entered carefully before creating a new petition. Once a petition is created,
the information cannot be modified. If changes are needed, the petition would need to be voided
(releasing any signatures collected to that point) or closed, and a new petition created.
4. Candidates can only collect up to the minimum number of signatures needed to be placed on the
ballot for the respective office using E-QUAL (200 signatures for a Council Member and 1,500
signatures for Mayor). Additional hard-copy petition sheets with signatures can be submitted to the
City Clerk’s Office to supplement your online petition. Sample petition sheets for hard-copy
circulation can be found online in the Candidate Information Packet. If you plan to circulate petitions
in hard copy to supplement your online petition, please make sure the information on the paper
forms matches the information on the electronic forms.
5. Please contact the Phoenix City Clerk Department with any questions at 602-262-6837 or
phoenixelections@phoenix.gov.
DOUBLE CHECK YOUR INFORMATION! Once your petition has been created, the ONLY way to change this
information is to void (remove all signatures) or close (cannot accept new signatures) your petition and
create a new one with the correct information. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE GOES ON YOUR
PETITION! After you have reviewed your information, click “Next”.
3. REVIEW & CREATE PETITION
On the third and final screen,
you will be asked to review
the petition text.
Once you click on ‘Create
Petition’ the information on
the petition CANNOT be
changed. If you wish to
change anything at this
point, click ‘Previous’ before
clicking on ‘Create Petition.’
Once everything looks good,
click ‘Create Petition” to
finish the creation process.
You will be returned to the Online Petitions page and the petition you just created will be listed below your
candidate name.
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
HOW TO SHARE A DIRECT LINK TO YOUR PETITION
When you create a petition, a direct link to your petition is created. You can post that link on your website,
in email, social media communication, etc. When voters click on your direct link, they will be sent directly to
your online petition for signing.
1. GO TO THE PETITION DETAILS PAGE
Click ‘View’ next to the open petition to open the petition details page.
2. FIND THE LINK & SHARE
Find the E-QUAL link and share it, as needed.
(To sign your own petition - Click on your direct link and follow the instructions to sign-in as a voter.)
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
HOW TO VOID A PETITION
1. UNDERSTAND WHAT VOIDING A PETITION MEANS
You can void an open petition, but you cannot void one once it has been closed or filed. Voiding a petition
releases any E-QUAL signatures collected and cannot be undone. If the petition was created for the wrong
office or jurisdiction, the candidate would want to void it. If the candidate decides not to run, they can void
their petition which would allow voters to sign another candidate’s petition.
2. VOID THE PETITION
Click ‘View’ next to the petition to view the petition details.
Click ‘Void Petition’
You will get a popup message asking you to confirm the action. Click ‘Yes, I want to void this petition.’
You will now see that your petition has been voided and you can no longer view it.
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
HOW TO CLOSE A PETITION
1. UNDERSTAND WHAT CLOSING A PETITION MEANS
When you close a petition, this means voters cannot add more signatures to your petition. This action
cannot be undone. However, you can create supplemental petitions to gather more signatures up to the
minimum number of signatures for the office, if needed.
2. CLOSING THE PETITION
From the petition details screen, click ‘Close Petition’
You will get a popup message asking you to confirm the action. Click ‘Yes, I want to close this petition.’
You will now see that your petition has been closed.
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200 W. Washington St., 15
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Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 • PH: 602.262.6837 • FAX: 602.495.5847 • TTY: 7-1-1 Friendly
HOW TO PRINT A PETITION
1. VIEW THE PETITION
Click on “View” at the right hand side of the petition to open the petition details page
2. PRINT THE PETITION
From the petition details page, click ‘Print Petition and Signatures’. You will be directed to a PDF which you
can download, save and print.
HOW TO SEARCH AND EXPORT VOTER SIGNATURES
1. VIEW THE PETITION
Click ‘View’ next to the open petition to open the petition details page.
2. PRINT THE PETITION
Just above the voter signature table, use the search field to search signatures and/or click on ‘Export All to
CSV’ to download a .csv file of all the petition’s signatures.
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