Be firm and polite, but above all else don't explain yourself!

In this situation explanations invite argument and risk hurt feelings. Avoiding them is best. Instead simply state your policy in an emotionally neutral way (and of course make sure you consistently apply this policy):

Thanks, but my policy is to avoid mixing work and politics.

If you feel additional explanation is needed since you initially implied you might sign it, you could say this the first time, and use the line above every subsequent time:

Thanks, but after some thought, my policy is to avoid mixing work and politics.

If pressed repeat this with a smile every single time. If the coworker doesn't get the hint, escalate the problem (privately) to your manager.

Just say:

No, thanks. But good luck!

That's it! You do not owe an explanation, nor is an explanation going to help. You just open yourself up to counter-arguments.

No, thanks.

You have already tried politeness. Politeness has failed. Now is the time for clarity. You must give the clearest answer you can. The best way to do that is to use a magic word:

No.

There are three rules for using this magic word in this context:

1. You must say "No."


2. "No" must be the first word of the sentence.


3. "No" said by itself, is a complete sentence.

So, the best answer to the repeated question is:

No.

If this is too impolite for you, you may offer whatever polite filler phrases you wish, after you have said "No", like this:

No, thank you.

No, I don't want to do that.

No, I don't mix business and politics.

No, but good luck.

What you did is a mistake. Psychologically, if you give people hope they will try harder. It would have been much more polite to say the first time you were approached "there is no way I will sign for this, because I'm totally opposed to your politics". That way, he could have gone away without wasting his time on you.

By saying "not now" you invite him to come back to you and try again, which just causes agony for both of you.

So how should I go about saying that I won't ever sign it?

You say "I won't ever sign it".

Something like this might work:

I've been giving it some thought and I came to the conclusion that I don't want to mix work and politics. The truth is that in many areas I have very different political opinions to you and probably a fair few others in the office and I wouldn't want that to become a source of animosity between us, and for that reason, it would probably be better if I didn't sign this.

I do not know what your work place is, but many have specific policies against bringing outside concerns or issues to work. I suggest checking any employee hand book, the terms of employment, asking Personnel or your local management. If they can provide a firm and public answer, you can point directly to it. Depending, you may be able to point it out to coworker before he asks you again. Done right, he ought to see it as a tactful help ("I just noticed this and don't want someone else to blow you in to HR") and end the issue on a positive note. Possibly this will save others from him too.

You say

Personally we don't share the same political views and I'll most likely vote for his opposing party.

But these are not mutually exclusive things. You could sign his petition and vote for the opposing party anyway right?

It depends on the district whether signing the candidate's petition is an endorsement of their candidacy (a nomination) or just their eligibility. I'm a member of my local school board, and my petition requires three nominators and ten “signatories.” The former say (paraphrasing) "I endorse this candidate and request that their name be on the ballot" and the latter say "I certify that the candidate is legally eligible to hold the office they're running for."

If you think the person is a decent human being, and deserves a shot to put their name before the voters, then I don't see any ideological dilemma between certifying their eligibility and then voting against them. A rational, independent voter would be able to say in one month, “Yes, he's capable of the job and deserves to be considered,” and then later, “But I prefer somebody else.” If he is asking you to nominate him, though, then you probably shouldn't.

If you're going to say no, just say no. “I'd rather not mix work and politics, if that's OK with you.” [Not that it matters whether it's OK with him.] The guy should be able to take a hint. After all, if he's going to run, he'd better have more friends in the community than you to ask to sign his petition.

I will have to contradict the other answers.

A petition does not indicate support of the candidate. It indicates your support that the candidate ought to be on the ballot. Those are two very different things. (I'm assuming that this is a ballot access petition.)

Taking this position removes all concerns from the equation. You are not supporting this individual's positions. You are supporting open expression and having a wider range of voices to be placed on the ballot - that being the case you are not involving yourself in politics except to the extent that you declare yourself in favor of a vibrant election process.

'I'm in a bit of a quandry here. On a personal level, I'm sure you'd be an excellent candidate. But I actually support the other lot! Would you let me off?'

Go to your management and let them know. Your co-worker is using company time and resources to promote himself to a political office which is almost definitely against their policy, or at least is improper workplace behavior if not outright harassment. You may phrase it diplomatically:

My coworker has repeatedly asked me to sign a petition to promote his political campaign. I am uncomfortable with people pressing their politics on me in the office. I don't wish to turn this into a major incident, but perhaps my coworker's management could let him know that his actions are not universally appreciated and might be against company policy.

Probably nothing will be done right away, but your complaint will at least be noted, and if your coworker retaliates against you for refusing to sign his petition, you will have put in place a basis for him to be fired. "Remember when I came to you last month? Just as I feared, he became enraged when I did not sign his petition and has been saying nasty things about me in the lunch room."

It's unfortunate that some people are too self-centered and narcissistic to realize the impact of their actions on others. It's doubly unfortunate that you have to work with this person. Your first loyalty is to yourself and the security of your job and livelihood, so take appropriate preventative measures now and not become a victim of his bullying later on.

I have seen this kind of behavior many times in my career and rarely do people respond well to moral persuasion in the workplace. Usually, it is only the threat to their direct self-interest, e.g. their job, that convinces them to back off. However, usually employers don't have the patience to be forgiving, unless he's some kind of super-star employee whom they can't afford to fire, and those are very very rare!

Don't view it as humiliating or something to have to avoid. It's as simple as:

Thanks, coworker, but I'm not interested. I really wish you the best in your political affairs.

There is nothing to be ashamed of. There is nothing to gossip about. Political views don't need to be taboo. Just don't over-emphasize the fact that you don't agree with his political stance. It's always as simple as,

I'm not interested, but thank you for considering me.

This is not about you, it is about him. Assuming that signing does not constitute making an endorsement or require that you join his party or anything, then refusing to sign it when you know he meets the residency requirements is really just a selfish way of making his project about you.

Keep it about him and stay classy by signing his papers. It might even help motivate you to go out and vote when the time comes - for his opponent of course.

If you really need an answer that will get you out of it- tell him you're not registered to vote. People who aren't registered don't count for signatures, so yours would hurt him instead of help.

The whole thing isn't about signing. It's about how to fight someone who is trying to coerce you with fear to doing something they want, without triggering them off.

If you know your boss would be against this, mention it to him or somehow troll him to ask you for the signature while in his presence. The point is to just CYA for after when he realizes that you don't want to sign for him and are therefore marked as an enemy by a toxic person. This is solely for that your boss has some chance to realize why he would have started badmouthing you suddenly.

You could also just sign it, you can still mention it to your boss that he is going around asking for signatures. It is very unlikely to make any difference and it's fairly unlikely anyone is going to go through the signatures to single you out for your political preference. The reason I say it's very unlikely to make any difference is that if he is struggling to get enough signatures he is very unlikely to get enough votes in the actual election, making it all just a huge waste of time.

The question boils down to how to decline an aggressive persuasion without angering the person - when his persuasion tactic is basically that if you don't agree he will get angry. He will use things like arguing that you lose nothing by signing it. As you've already gone the play time route you have kind of lost the golden chance of using deflection, making a decline and telling him what he should be doing instead: going to the mall, city square or whatever it is where the elderly hang out to ask for signatures from the elderly. Because that's how you get signatures. not by harassing your coworkers.

The whole point of the deflection would be to make them feel like you helped them despite declining on the thing they were asking you to do. That explicit advice would help their chances though so it has that downside.

Tell him that you are sorry, but that you do not get involved in politics at work, and that doesn't like political, sales or religious solicitation on the job.

That's all you need to say without being impolite. If he doesn't get it and continues with his soliciting, then he's the impolite one.

It's ok to worry about being polite, but worry more about your well being. Do you want to be seen as being part of political solicitation at work?