Author: wes

In 2004, the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down all the regulations in the state connected to political advertising on private property as unconstitutional. There are, however, a number of regulations that remain that campaigns should be aware of. If your campaign plays fast and loose with sign regulations, you may open up the newspaper to a negative letter to the editor, find that your political opponents are using your violations against you, and more. Avoid those problems and more by understanding New Hampshire’s Department of Transportation and State campaign sign regulations.

New Hampshire Yard Sign Regulations

When it comes to placing political campaign signs in New Hampshire, the most important thing to remember is that no campaign sign is allowed to be placed on, or affixed to any public property including highways or private property without the owner’s consent. Signs may be put along the right of way, but only if they are not obstructing drivers’ view or causing any traffic hazard. Generally, campaign signs in New Hampshire may not be posted any earlier than the last Friday in July before the general election.

Knowing this regulation, you may might be tempted to fix signs that aren’t adhering to New Hampshire’s regulations, but it is equally unlawful for anyone, other than a private property owner or police officer, to remove, deface, or knowingly destroy any political advertising on a private property. Even still, a police officer may only remove improper political advertising after notifying the candidate that the sign was posted illegally and allow 24 hours for removal.

Again, here are the issues that may occur with your signs that a police officer can request removal for:

• If your sign is on public property – state, city or town maintenance or law enforcement personnel may remove it
• If your sign is on private property – the property owner or those authorized by the property owner may remove it
• And in case of improper Political Advertising such as failure to meet disclosure requirements – law enforcement personnel may remove your campaign sign.

You can make complaints concerning alleged violations of election laws prior to, during, and after an election by calling the Attorney General Civil Bureau at (603) 271-3650 or the Elections Hotline at 1-866-868-3703. In addition, complaint forms and other information about filing a complaint can be obtained on the Department of Justice’s website.

Local Yard Sign Regulations

Local laws and regulations in New Hampshire may be slightly different because right-of-way boundaries can vary
by highway and location. Local governments may also apply additional restrictions on the size and shape of campaign yard signs or the period political candidates can place their signs on private property or public land in the locality.

If you are not sure about local laws in your county, it is better to contact someone who can help you. Try contacting New Hampshire municipal association, or better yet, the individual municipality in question.

Also, check the New Hampshire Department of Transportation for more information about when and where you may place your sign.

Conclusion

New Hampshire is clear on their campaign sign laws: no political advertising at any public property including highway rights-of-way or private property without the owner’s consent. While there are opportunities to make it right, breaking the law could mean that your sign will be thrown out costing your campaign money and at the very least taking your time to deal with the issue.

The smartest move in political campaign game is to play it according the rules and think about your voters who might miss your message if your sign gets removed. You should also think about the troubles media and opponents would cause you if they found out you are breaking the law.
So let’s recap where you can’t post a campaign sign in New Hampshire:

• Public property – no political signs may be placed or affixed to any public property including highway rights-of-way
• Private property without permission – you need to obtain the owner’s consent
• Utility poles/highway signs – no campaign signs are allowed

Disclaimer: I’m not an attorney nor do I play one on TV. This is not legal advice or opinion. It’s simply a collection of information that I have been able to gather from online and offline sources and have applied to political campaigns.

New Mexico has strict rules about where, when and for how long you may place your campaign signs during a political campaign. The New Mexico Department of Transportation is concerned about distracting drivers and impeding NMDOT traffic devices and signals. To make a long story short about where you can post signs, New Mexico prohibits posting signs along the state’s right of way.

In addition to the state’s rules, counties and other local governments may have their own restrictions and permitting processes.

Don’t be fooled. These regulations may seem trivial, but the political implications can be a factor in your race. It’s one thing to have a few signs removed and to need to recover them. It’s another issue when your political opponent or a member of the media notices these violations. You don’t have to take my word for it. Search online for yard sign theft or other yard signs violations, and you’ll see a never ending list of articles if you’re in the heat of campaign season.

New Mexico Yard Sign Regulations

In New Mexico, no classes of signs are allowed outdoor, except for signs, displays and devices located within 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right of way, which are zoned as industrial or commercial under authority of law. Suffice it to say, that’s not you! You can’t post signs in the state’s right of way.

You already know how strict New Mexico is about sign placement. The following quote from Outdoor Advertising Requirements in New Mexico proves the point:

“It is prohibited to place signs which physically intrude upon the right of way or by being of such a distracting nature so it diverts driver’s attention from the roadway. Also, signs that attempt or appear to attempt to direct the movement of traffic or imitate any official signs, signals or device are prohibited. Your campaign sign may not contain commands such as: “stop, slow, turn left or right, straight ahead.”

If your campaign does post campaign signs in the state’s right of way, they will be removed by NMDOT staff and stored at district headquarter or at local patrol yards. New Mexico has six district headquarters where campaigns can pick up the signs during normal business hours. Contact information for those offices is available here.

Finally, no campaign sign or other outdoor advertising device whatsoever is allowed to place signs in the state without a permit from the State Maintenance Bureau of the Department for placement along state roads. To apply for a permit for political signs, you’ll need to fill out the application form and make a nonrefundable $100 fee. Sign permits will be valid from the date of their issuance until the following January 1. Every permit must be renewed each year and accompanied by a $25 renewal fee. Permanent metal tags will be issued with fees collected annually in advance.

Local Yard Sign Regulations

Generally, you are now more familiar with regulations in New Mexico regarding placing campaign signs. However, you should consult local town or county regulations because some counties regulate the duration placement of election signs, and elements of the sign itself including its size.

The Department of Transportation in New Mexico will not issue permits for placing new signs in areas where counties and municipal zoning ordinances are in effect and which require a permit to be issued for such signs by the county or municipal authority.

County permits are often free and aren’t terribly difficult to obtain. Contact your county for a permit application. Some of them, like Los Alamos county, have the application available online. Hee is an eample for Los Alomos.

Conclusion

As you can see, it is not hard to follow the rules in New Mexico, you will probably spend the most time reading them since they are very detailed. It is clear as it can be; if you follow the regulations, your signs will stay. But if you don’t, you will lose your sign, your permit and your opponent will most probably use that as a chance to win a few arguments and maybe the election.

Following campaign regulations is first and foremost a matter of ethics, but in additional to doing the right thing there are a political implications to understanding Illinois’ sign regulations and local sign ordinances. Illinois DOT disposes of road signs that are illegally distributed along the highway median, for example, and your campaign dollars invested in them along with it.

But it’s better that the DOT find your signs illegally placed than your opponent who could turn it into a campaign issue. Why should the voters trust you to be a part of government when you can’t follow the simplest laws of the land? Of course, you can turn this around and point out your opponents violations to the media.

Illinois Yard Sign Regulations

Most candidates learn the regulations about where you and can and cannot post signs on the state’s right of way quickly:

“Most candidates are aware of our policy. We don’t have trouble with too many people. Candidates usually know where to put their signs,” said Operations Engineer Keith Miley of the Illinois Department of Transportation office in Carbondale.

That said, if you are new to politics or need to make confirm that your opponent is following the letter of the law, for example, knowing the state’s rules can help. Also, when a campaign does violate Illinois Department of State, DOT staff will remove of your signs and dispose of them.
That could mean a significant loss to your campaign financially and in terms of time investment in purchasing and posting the signs.

On Election Day, the state’s regulations are equally clear. While the polls are open, no one can place political sign or fliers within 100 feet of a polling place. This protects the polling place as a neutral area, where people can vote their mind without worrying about political pressure from a political campaign. Unlike many other states, this rule extends to voters showing up to vote wearing clothing or other political paraphernalia like buttons or stickers that advocate for or opposes a given candidate or proposition.

Local Yard Sign Regulations

As you may already know, many cities and villages in Illinois only allowed homeowners to display political yard signs within a few weeks of an election day.  If you displayed your sign too early or left a sign in your yard for too long following an election, you would have been breaking the law.  Governor Pat Quinn, however, signed a law in 2011 barring municipalities from regulating when political signs can be displayed on residential property.

According to the Quinn administration, the new law, would bring Illinois into compliance with a 1994 U.S. Supreme Court ruling indicating that political signs are protected “free speech” under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.  Under the new law, municipalities can still regulate the size and number of political signs, as long as any such restrictions are “content neutral” and “reasonable.”

Let’s take the city of Galena for an example.

The city of Galena in northwestern Illinois allowed properties to put in place one political sign beginning 60 days before and up to seven day after an election. Galena Zoning Administrator Nate Kieffer said the new ordinance was created because property owners and candidates wanted a standardized timeline to begin putting up the signs. “It’s so funny, it’s one of the only situations where somebody wants a rule on something. They just want to have something… that levels the playing field for everyone” said Kieffer.

Since 2011, local governments like Galena can no longer make or enforce such regulations limiting the time that private citizens can post yard signs advertising political campaigns.

The statewide law also makes it much simpler for candidates who are seeking office that crosses local government boundaries. State Senator Pamela Althoff, who cosponsored the legislation, said homeowners did not know when they could put signs up because of all the different local ordinances. This is a benefit to campaigns as well who can start putting signs in the hands of voters as soon as the campaign orders them.

Conclusion

Illinois’ campaign yard sign regulations are clear and even easier to follow at the local level since 2011 when the state prohibited cities and towns from limiting the amount of time that a private citizen could display a sign. Also keep in mind that according to the Illinois Department of Transportation, campaign signs are only allowed on the back slopes behind ditches along state roads. Signs are also prohibited in the median. In addition, the state of Illinois legally protects the polling place as an electioneering free zone on the Election Day.

Disclaimer: I’m not an attorney nor do I play one on TV. This is not legal advice or opinion. It’s simply a collection of information that I have been able to gather from online and offline sources and have applied to political campaigns.

Don’t post your campaign signs in Alabama before you’ve read these guidelines for political campaigns. Why? The cost is too high. You could face financial and political damages for making the wrong move with your signs. Your political opponent wants to win as badly as you do, and any opening that the other candidate can find, he will take.

The most obvious violations revolve around posting signs along state highway and near polling places, but there are other ways that your campaign can run afoul of Alabama’s regulations.

Alabama Yard Sign Regulations

Alabama’s Fair Campaign Practices Act (FCPA) has defined what an acceptable “electioneering communication” is:

“Any communication that contains the name or image of a candidate is made within 120 days of an election in which the candidate appears on the ballot, and is put where it is allowed and safe in Alabama. “

Within the timeframe that FCPA dictates for political communications, there are additional rules. Namely, any political advertising, including road signs are prohibited from the rights of way of the state. Campaign signs and stickers can’t be adhered to existing governmental signs or poles nor should your signs imitate Alabama DOT or other roadside signage distributed by the government.

If you’re convicted of violating the FCPA, you’ll be found guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and subject to a fine between fifty or two hundred fifty dollars or up to five days of community. While you are running for office to perform a community service, I’m sure this isn’t what you had in mind!

Here are some other state regulations about posting political signs in Alabama:

– Signs may not be placed earlier than thirty days before the election date

– Posting signs along state highways and in the median are against Alabama DOT regulations

– Don’t print a sign that is any larger than thirty-two square feet since they are prohibited.

– Remove your sign soon after the election. The latest that you can legally have your signed posted are seven day from Election Day.

– Campaign signs can’t be posted within thirty feet of any polling place.

It’s important to understand these regulations and also to share them with campaign staff, volunteers and supporters. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that the people who work for them and place campaign signs are doing so in compliance with these regulations.

Finally, it’s always illegal to take something that isn’t yours, so don’t remove an illegally posted sign and keep a watchful eye to ensure that your political opponents blatantly steal a sign that one of your campaign supporters has posted.

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Local Yard Sign Regulations

Local counties, cities and municipalities may have their own regulations regarding the placement of political signs in Alabama. For example, a city may regulate the size, shape and location of yard signs, or even the number of yard signs that a resident that post on their property.

Birmingham, for example, enforces the following regulations:

. Signs posted more than 45 before Election Day are prohibited

. Signs must be removed within 72 hours of an election

. If you have less than 100 feet of frontage, a resident is limited to one signs per candidate or issue. If a resident has more than that, he is limited to two signs per candidates or issue.

Many local towns and cities post information about their sign ordinance online or the entire ordinance itself. Depending upon how the local government presents this information online if it is on their website at all, it may be easier to give municipal office a call to discuss what regulations that you need to adhere to.

Conclusion

There are several important rules you must know and follow if you want your signs to go up and stay up in Alabama. As a voter, you might have noticed many of them: you never see signs near polling places or along the state highway. Maybe you have even picked up on the local sign laws, but now you need to make sure that your entire campaign knows them and follows them to avoid fines or the political repercussions of your political opponents or the news media finding one of your signs in the wrong spot. Finally, disobeying the law during a campaign isn’t a good way to present your candidacy to the voters, so be careful and play it according the rules.