Campaign Sign Laws 101: Everything You Need to Know

Introduction to Campaign Sign Laws

The campaign sign laws are the legal regulations for posting signs for candidates who have filed to appear on a future ballot. Most campaigns and candidates take the sign laws very seriously and take care to make sure each sign that appears in the public is posted legally. The reason for doing so is obvious as there are potential costs and liabilities associated with breaking the law.
What Are Campaign Sign Laws? Campaign sign laws are simply laws that govern where, when and how a candidate may place campaign signs. These laws vary from state to state and at the local level within those states. Some states have experienced some form of litigation regarding local sign ordinances, and we have provided the most commonly violated and litigated portions of local sign ordinances in our campaign sign law cheat sheet.
Importance of the Campaign Sign Laws One village or municipality may have no restrictions at all while the village next door may have tight restrictions that must be followed. We have found that the more guidelines or restrictions, the stricter they are enforced. Don’t be fooled by the amount of signs you may see posted across town that appear to be in violation of the law because you can pretty much guarantee that the candidate won’t win any battle but the one that is on the campaign trail during elections. It is important that candidates and campaigns read, understand and abide by the laws in their jurisdiction.
You may think that you are the only candidate that failed to follow the law. But it is unlikely, based upon our experience. Do not make the mistake of thinking that all the other bad kids got spanked and you are off the hook. It is much more likely that you just never got caught.
Compliance with campaign sign laws is quite typically not seen as a priority. Many municipal or village clerks do not know the sign laws in their jurisdiction and when asked by candidates , the clerks will refuse to be put in the position of giving what they think is legal advice on the sign laws. More likely, the clerk won’t know and will leave candidates and their supporters on their own to decipher what they think is right and wrong. But it’s always safer to read, know and understand the local sign ordinances that affect you because once you’ve posted that sign, you have entered into a game that plays on a stage with millions of spectators. No candidate wants a protest outside of their office or campaign headquarters.
Why Campaign Sign Laws Are Frequently Violated Again, otherwise sincere and fundamentally good candidates and their supporters will sometimes choose to break the law in this area because the risk of being caught in violation of the law is low. Campaigns may do so following the advice of a friend or someone volunteering on the campaign committee. We want to save you from doing this because there’s great expense and liability that can be associated with campaigns getting caught breaking the law.
Your failure to check and verify your local campaign sign laws can cost you dearly in terms of wasted time and money. #1, if you are caught and fined you may not be able to stay in the race. #2, if you are caught and fined you may be forced to resign from the race. #3 if you have to resign from the race and you have filed a Statement of Organization or Candidate, the FEC will continue to require that you file reports disclosing your campaign activity until your candidate status has been terminated. #4, if you don’t comply with the law, it could result in litigation that is costly to your committee.
Campaign sign laws are clearly important to campaigns.

Federal and state sign regulations

When examining the law regarding campaign signs, it can be easy to confuse or conflate the different applicable authorities. Signs may run afoul of state laws, or federal regulations may apply so long as they are within certain distances of state or federal highways. Generally, these authorities operate independently from one another, but sometimes federal law will preempt state authority on the same subject matter.
Federal standards for the placement and size of signs, including campaign signs, on state highway rights-of-way are found in 23 U.S.C. § 131 et seq. This federal statute generally prohibits billboards and similar structures on the right-of-way of interstate highways and the nation’s primary highway system. Exceptions are made in areas zoned commercial or industrial, as well as "growing" points of interest, landmarks, etc.
Such a sign may also be required to conform to state standards (i.e., typical state and local sign ordinances), but only if the state receives federal funds to enforce these rules. 23 U.S.C. §131(d). This is why many states and municipalities have their own sign ordinances.
Even more tricky is the interaction of the federal Highway Beautification Act ("HBA") with state and local sign ordinances. The federal statute is designed to control advertising signs, outdoor advertising structures and other advertising devices that are outside the corporate limits of a municipality along the full length of the interstate and primary highway systems. It applies not only to billboards, but also applies to poster panels, panel boards, and similar structures. Even though the HBA covers essentially the same signs as the federal regulation at 23 U.S.C. § 131, the two laws operate absolutely independently. In other words, even though the law at 23 U.S.C. § 131 prohibits an advertising sign because it is located on the right-of-way of an interstate, the sign may still be prohibited under the HBA on the basis of its size, lighting, etc. The reverse is also true.
Despite the fact that these two federal laws operate independently, the federal government has declared its intent to settle any conflicts. The Federal Highway Administration ("FHA") published a federal Register notice that:
"the [FHA] intends to pursue adoption of a unified set of regulations for the Highway Beautification Act…" This means that the same federal agency will administer all sign structures and sizes on interstate highways and primary highways.
As far as state and local regulation go, the federal statute defines the term "outdoor advertising structure" as a "structure or part of a structure, other than a building, which displays an advertisement." 23 U.S.C. § 131(c). This means that a freestanding sign and a billboard would be subject to this act, while a sign painted directly on a wall would be exempt.

Placement restrictions on campaign signs

When it comes to campaign signs, not is everything black and white. Sign ordinances frequently restrict where a campaign sign can be placed. Take a look at these common placement restrictions:
Private Property
If you want to place your sign on private property, you typically must obtain permission from the property owner or occupant. The right to place a sign on private property is determined solely by contract law. That is, absent a statute granting you an express right to place your sign on private property, you have no right to do so without permission. Although you may be able to bring a common law action for trespass against someone who places a sign on your property without your permission, such an action will only occur after the fact and may not provide relief in many cases.
Public Places
As with private property, you typically do not have any absolute right to place a sign on public property without permission and, in some cases, permission is required to place the sign in a specific location on public property. Additionally, some jurisdictions may prohibit signs on public property altogether. Public property falls into two categories: public facilities (such as hospitals, schools, and government buildings) and rights-of-way. Both public facilities and rights-of-way are subject to various laws that limit your ability to place a sign.
You should first check whether your community has a policy or ordinance governing the use of signs on public property. Next, you need to determine whether both a permit and permission to use a specific site are required.
Even where states or local jurisdictions require a permit or site permission, however, the prohibition on erecting signs may be relaxed during periods immediately before elections (such as the Sooner State’s "grace period"). Accordingly, the prohibition on erecting signs may depend on when in the election cycle the sign is placed.

Size and duration of political signs allowed

As with most local issues, communities may set size and duration limits on temporary signs. For instance, many municipalities will permit temporary signs at a size of sixteen (16) square feet. This is the case in the City of Westland at § 98-183(I)(1). However, some could seek to limit a sign to as small as ten (10) square feet or less. Often the smaller size is reserved for A-frame type signs or other type of residential displays. Duration limits are frequently set during an election. If permitted, they will often be constrained to a certain number of days before and after an election. The duration limits can range from about a week before and a week after the election to as much as up until the date of the election. In some instances, the duration limits may not apply to certain types of signs.

Enforcement mechanisms and penalties

Enforcement and penalties for violating laws regarding political campaign signs vary depending on the law being broken. But consistent across jurisdictions is the notion that regulatory bodies or the public can ask a candidate to remove their sign if it violates some particular code. When a candidate refuses, these bodies or individuals can turn to the police for enforcement.
Enforcement is almost always immediate and direct. A candidate can be subjected to (or effectively receive) a citation or summons demanding the removal of a sign or a fine demanding a payment. Most states and jurisdictions also enable private citizens to sue candidates who violate sign laws with citizen-led prosecutions.
Plans are in place to modernize the manner in which private citizens can enact citizen-led enforcement of political sign laws. Current plans involve a two-step process where after a candidate is cited for a violation and refuses to comply , a citizen can approach a magistrate and seek enforcement from the police. This process is currently limited to laws such as those prohibiting inappropriate language or graphic violence on signs.
Practices involving sign enforcement and penalties are not uniform, and can change reltively quickly in reaction to the political climate if not more permanent changes in the regulatory framework.

Recent changes and trends in campaign sign laws

Recent Changes and Trends in Campaign Sign Laws
As so often happens after the storm of a contentious election cycle, the campaign sign era may be behind us for another 3 to 4 years. Public memory is short, and the bitterness of the past election will fade and be replaced by the usual questioning of local government use of tax dollars for eradication of weeds, or some other such issue, to be followed by candidates with signs crammed all over the place.
But a fresh look at the laws relating to signs will show that there are several recent developments of note, even if there may not be much activity just now. In addition, things are changing fast in the world of technology and signs.
Micro-Particles and Advanced Proliferation of Signs? The FCC was just sued by a small group of municipalities which object to the new rule exempting micro-particles from FCC safety regulation. The municipalities object to the typically small dots being placed on electric utility poles, which are usually in violation of their ordinances against pole attachments to utility poles. In many municipalities, these dots, or "stickers" as they have become known, are affixed by a variety of organizations, but typically are poll-pushers for a particular political party.
The irony to this entire situation is that the power poles are typically owned by a local electric utility which has no specific enforcement powers over signs, and therefore marketing stickers on these poles have become a method of communicating mass political messages at no cost to the parties by the utilities. In other words, a utility in your town may be paying for an entire political campaign on its poles, once you factor in labor costs. However, there are no FCC regulations prohibiting this practice, and a number of municipalities object to the stickers on aesthetic grounds. In addition, the obligation to enforce these municipal laws falls to the landowners, which in this case are the electric utilities.
Campaign signs are on every inch of public right-of-way during an election, so such stickers are clearly only the beginning of a form of mass political messaging through use of land owned by others. It might be a good time to review your local ordinances to stay ahead of the curve in light of this emerging technology.
Sign Bans Held Constitutional A recent pair of cases in Michigan surprised many when the courts upheld municipal sign bans. Auto-Owners Insurance Company v. City of Frankenmuth, 2015 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 136068 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 5, 2015) and Fox 2, et. al. v. City of Holland, 2015 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 164640 (W.D. Mich. Dec. 8, 2015) involved municipalities banning all signs except temporary "For Sale" signs.
The decisions are interesting in that they consider the arguments that bans on signs are sign regulations and therefore unconstitutional under the Central Hudson test. The court analyzed the regulatory scheme and determined that the signs were not highly protected speech. So many municipalities require a permit for a sign, thereby making it a regulated form of expression, but these ordinances prohibited the speech entirely, which was upheld in these cases as provided for by the cases in this area of law.
It is therefore critically important to not start with an ordinance banning all signs, but to think carefully about permissible uses first, and then consider what is needed to regulate the entire class of signs and still meet constitutional muster.

Tips and tricks for complying with campaign sign laws

Candidates and campaign managers can ensure compliance with campaign sign laws by following these simple guidelines:
Placement in Respect to Streams, Rivers, Lakes, and Piers
As noted above, no campaign signs can be placed within 75 feet of the waterline of lakes, lakeshores, streams, docks or piers. Therefore, when placing campaign signs and canvassing waterfront locations, it is important to remember this distance requirement and check for any confusing or ambiguous language about the placement of campaign signs in these locations.
Undersized Signs
As discussed above, most laws governing the posting of campaign signs contain size requirements for the signs. Some jurisdictions, such as the City of Minneapolis, have signs that are no more than 6 square feet in area. Accordingly, campaign managers should make sure that campaign signs follow local and statewide requirements regarding the placement of campaign signs , as well as the size of campaign signs. In some locations, such as the City of Richfield, there are different requirements for placement and size depending if you are in the residential, mixed use/commercial, or industrial areas.
Local Requirements
Within Minnesota, there are a lot of very specific local requirements for posting of campaign signs. For example, in the City of Saint Louis Park, you are required to remove all campaign signs within five days after the election. In the City of Eagan, you must obtain permission for private property placement of signs from the affected property owners, and in the City of Edina, you must submit any design, mounting, and structural features of the sign in writing to the city manager’s office. In other words, it is wise to check the local law of the jurisdiction in which you want to place your campaign signs before placing them.