The election petition stories highlighted by Mark Brown in the Chicago Sun-Times this week evoked nightmarish hauntings for me.

As a former candidate, the unruly process conjures a sort of fight-or-flight sensation — and a palpitation or two. After all, even the most ethical would-be candidate comes upon problems during petition season.

To those who practice politics, Brown’s columns and the accompanying articles on the fraudulent collection of petition signatures come as no surprise. They represent what is standard procedure for most, if not all, who run for an office requiring signatures: the hiring of outside support to gather about triple the signature requirement in order to protect against any challenges others may make to them.

Collecting these signatures isn’t easy. When I ran for the Illinois State Senate, volunteers and I were yelled at by parents who wanted us to leave a neighborhood festival. Pedestrians averted their gaze when we spoke to them. Homeowners looked out their window and then didn’t answer the door. We were made to feel unwelcome any number of other places. And some people simply smiled as they signed fake names and lied about where they lived.

Friends, family and those who come aboard a campaign along the way put in most of the hard work during a campaign, but simply aren’t enough to collect all the signatures needed to get on most ballots, especially on Chicago’s notorious West Side where challenges are commonplace. Sometimes elected officials, unions and ward organizations lend a hand. Many of them have the process down to a science, including where the majority of single family homes and likely voters are, and which precincts are easiest and quickest to walk. None of that matters if the campaign doesn’t have the human capacity to use the information.

The need for signatures forces some campaigns to get untested volunteers and to hire signature collectors. Notary publics are also needed. They notarize each sheet for each collector, serving to verify that the collectors personally witnessed each signature they turn in.

Once the signatures are collected, they must be properly packaged which most often involves hours of time, a lawyer and a specific hole-punch. They are then turned into the board of elections, at which point registered voter can request copies and file a formal challenge against the petitions.

In my case, many people were needed to defend against the two challenges filled. Volunteers checked every line against the board of elections database. Each voter’s signature must resemble the one they provided at the time they registered and reflect the address they wrote on the petition sheet. Changes in address, handwriting, and registered name can all be challenged, as can the voter’s actual registration. Examples include a public housing resident moving into another unit within the same complex, an older person’s arthritis changing the way they write their name, and a woman shortening or taking her husband’s name.

More volunteers were needed for several days to sit with a board of elections staff member and the petition challenger to go through each disputed signature. We were only allowed to take note of the decisions being made and to respond to any questions asked, not to defend any of the signatures — including those of a judge, an alderman’s brother and a personal friend, all who had signed in front of me.

Those signatures, along with many others were rejected. To validate them, we had to go back to those residences and get notarized affidavits from those voters to confirm that they had, in fact signed the sheets. Lest you think that was the end of it, those affidavits then went before a judge who decided to allow or deny them.

As a candidate, the mind races during this process thinking of the responsibility you have to the thousands of people who took the time to sign your petitions, and of all of those who gave countless hours to get your petition sheets in order. The real palpitations kick in when you realize that you can only personally account for a percentage of what was turned in, and that it is possible that those you paid for may not be of the same quality, but must now withstand the strict tests imposed.

Now that you have a sneak peek into the process, register to vote. Areas with higher counts get more attention from candidates.

Also, have compassion for those collecting signatures. They are a part of our electoral process. Without them, we will have fewer choices. And third, take a look at your voter registration card and make a note of how you signed it. A few additional pristine signatures could mean the difference for a candidate seeking access to the ballot.