Choose who can sign your petition
Some petitions are only meaningful if the right people sign them. A staff petition should carry the names of staff, a student petition the names of students. You can accept signatures only from email addresses at the domains you choose, or rule out free and anonymous email services.
The three options
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Anyone | No restriction. The default. |
| Only email addresses at domains I choose | You list the domains, for example your employer, school or association. Subdomains are accepted too. |
| No free or anonymous email addresses | Blocks addresses anyone can create for free, such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and iCloud, and services that hide the sender, such as Proton and duck.com. |
The setting is called Who can sign.
How to set it up
- On the create page, open Advanced settings at the end of the step Your petition, or open Settings in the petition menu for a petition that already exists.
- Under Who can sign, choose the restriction you want.
- For the domain restriction, type a domain under Allowed email domains, for example helsinki.fi, and press comma, space or Enter. Repeat for every domain, up to 20.
- Save The restriction takes effect immediately.
You can type or paste an address with the at sign in front, as in @helsinki.fi. The at sign is removed for you and the domain is stored in lowercase.
What signatories see
A restricted petition says who can sign it right under the email field, before anyone starts typing: "Only people with an email address at @helsinki.fi can sign this petition", or, with the other option, that free and anonymous email services are not accepted. Someone who enters a different address gets the same sentence as the error, so they understand that the petition is restricted rather than broken.
Who it helps
A workplace petition to management, where a name from outside the company weakens the whole list. A student petition to a university rectorate. An internal petition in an association, restricted to the members' domain. A professional appeal where the point is that the signatories are the people who do the work, and where a stray anonymous address is exactly the thing an opponent will point at.
Limits and good to know
- A restriction makes the email address required on the signature form, because the address is the only detail that can be verified. Every signatory receives a confirmation link and the signature counts only after it is used.
- You cannot allow a free email service as a domain. Restricting to one would restrict nothing.
- Ruling out free addresses leaves out many private individuals, because most of them use one. It is the right choice for a petition from inside an organisation, and the wrong one for a petition to the general public.
- The restriction is checked again when the signature is saved, whichever form or route it came through.
- An email address proves access to that address, not who a person is. For stronger confirmation, ask for a phone number and call.
Questions and answers
How many domains can I list?
Up to 20. Subdomains are included, so helsinki.fi also accepts an address ending in @student.helsinki.fi.
Can I restrict the petition to gmail.com?
No. Anyone can create a free address, so restricting to one would restrict nothing, and the form says so when you try.
Does a restriction make the email address required?
Yes. The email address is the only thing that can be verified, so a restricted petition always asks for it.
Do signatories know about the restriction before they fill in the form?
Yes. The restriction is stated under the email field, naming the accepted domains.
Can I turn the restriction off later?
Yes, in "Settings" in the petition menu. Signatures already collected stay as they are.