When Do Political Signs Have To Be Taken Down After an Election in New York?
Election signs started popping up around New York weeks before Tuesday's election and although some have been taken down, many remain standing.
Believe it or not, political signs are actually fairly strongly governed with each state issuing its own rules regarding when the signs are allowed to first be displayed, where they can be placed, and when they must be removed.
In New York, each municipality is granted permission by the state to decide when political signs must come down following an election, but generally, most municipalities require their removal within three days of the conclusion of an election.
Additionally, the New York Department of Transportation has its own guidelines for where political signs are allowed to be placed.
In New York, it is against the rules to place a political sign on any controlled access road or expressway or in areas that would interfere with maintenance such as mowing. Signs are also not allowed to be placed where they can block lines of sign, where they will distract those driving, or on the medians of roads.
The New York Department of Transportation has and will remove any signs placed in areas its employees believe could cause some problems.
When you hear a political ad on the radio, you always hear wording along the lines of "paid for by." However, this wording is not printed on political signs. In the New Board of Elections’ campaign finance handbook, it states that political signs do not have to include the same “paid for by” disclaimer heard on the radio and seen on television.
However, just as each municipality is allowed to decide the date by which political signs must be removed, they can also decide whether or not they want to supersede the state and issue more stringent disclaimer rules on the local level.
If you've got a political sign on your yard and you're not sure when your local municipality expects for you to remove it, it might not be a bad idea to just take it down now to avoid any issues.