As an example, the following petition asks the Government of Canada to explore alternatives to Twitter/X, such as decentralised networks. I see the petition was already linked elsewhere on Lemmy but it is not clear how many people actually took action on creating a petition account.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-5359 e-5359 (Government services and administration)
"We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to transition official government communications away from Twitter/X to more secure, community-regulated platforms that prioritise public safety, accurate information, and accessibility. We encourage the government to explore publicly accountable alternatives, including decentralised networks, to ensure reliable and responsible communication with Canadians."
The request here is to do more than upvote a Fediverse thread. The request is to spend the time to create a petition account and upvote the petition.
To create a petition account, a person must be a Canadian citizen or a resident of Canada. Other people can simply provide moral support on the Fediverse.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Account/Register
The petition account needs a person's name, email, phone, and address. The address will include the city and postal code but not the street address.
Fake information is not acceptable and "may be dealt with as a breach of privilege" https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure/procedure-and-practice-3/ch_22_2-e.html Please do not create fake accounts.
Automatic email verification will be performed to confirm the creation of a petition account.
1] As you say, it is helpful to have an account for initiating (creating) a petition.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Home/AboutContent?guide=PIElectronicGuide "Note: A petitioner may only have one e-petition open for signature in their name at any one time."
If Fediverse users are willing to collaborate together on creating petitions, we will need at least one registered user per petition.
2] It can also be helpful to have an account to support a petition.
"When you draft your petition, you will be prompted to identify at least five potential supporters (Canadian residents or citizens), but no more than ten, and provide their emails."
3] Regarding your point about logging in not helping with signing a petition, I agree with you it would be expected and helpful to be able to more easily sign a petition after logging in.
Maybe you found a bug. Maybe it is a cookies issue. Maybe it was not designed the way we might expect. Let me contact them to see what they have to say and at a minimum raise a feature request with them to make it work the way we might expect.
4] Regardless, "The House of Commons' authorized personnel will have access to the personal information of a petitioner, supporter and signatory, and may use it to contact them or to validate their identity to ensure the integrity of the e-petition process."
Because of uncertainty in how the validation process is conducted, it may be helpful for people to sign up for accounts over time, leaving sufficient time for validation.
Because of the issue for 3], the most compelling reasons at this time are to be prepared to help with 1] and 2].