Campaign yard sign laws

If not paid attention to, breaking yard sign law can bring some heavy fines, but even worse, can give your opponent fuel for the fire. Yard sign laws vary from state to state, city to city, and sometimes even from neighborhood to neighborhood. In general the State’s Department of Transportation maintains the laws and regulations on the use of yard signs and some put specific restrictions on political signs. Some common regulations include restrictions on the right-of-way, distance from the road, restrictions on signs in the median, and what, if any, fines apply for violating the restrictions.

While, in general, there aren’t laws or regulations on signs at polling places, there many times are laws against campaigning at the polling location on Election Day. In many locations campaigning is restricted to outside of a set distance from the location while other states leave it up to the presiding officer over the polling location.

There are very few limitations to political yard signs on private property, however some homeowner’s associations and local governments will restrict the amount of time signs can be left in the yard or even put a complete ban on them.

The point is that as a candidate or campaign manager, it most certainly pays to do your research. The last thing you need in running for office is to have your opponent run a negative campaign touting that you are unable to abide by simple poling laws.