The "We the People" petition site contains a bug that regularly prevents users from signing in, thus preventing them from signing petitions.
Steps have been documented to work around the bug; however, the workaround is not noted in an obvious manner, and its steps may be difficult for non-technical users to complete. All petitions, but particularly those more relevant to less technically advanced users, are therefore artificially deflated.
This bug has been observed over the course of several months and must be fixed ASAP!