system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If a petition's requirements are fulfilled can it be overruled?

For example if you sign a petition to change stoplights to 15 seconds of red light and green, instead of what it is now, and the requirements for it to be passed is x signatures and x is met, can it not happen?
gpt
A petition isn't a law.  A petition is an idea for a change that is presented to whoever is in charge, and the signatures are essentially upvotes which indicate agreement with the idea.  A single voter writing to a politician or city official saying, "stoplights should be changed to 15 seconds of red light and green" will have some influence but a petition signed by 5000 people will have much more influence.  


A petition with a lot of signers doesn't mean the change will be made.  For example, high school students may unanimously sign a petition saying their school should not have homework but it doesn't mean the system will change.