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Discussion » Questions » Politics » Every election cycle, signs are plastered all over our neighborhoods touting candidates and/or measures. AFTER the election, however,

Every election cycle, signs are plastered all over our neighborhoods touting candidates and/or measures. AFTER the election, however,

amnesia seems to set in over at campaign headquarters, and those signs become litter that borders on or surpasses blight.        

   These political campaign signs can be found on both public areas and on private property; parks, roadsides, sidewalks, buildings, windows, etc.

  Suggestions that I contact the campaign offices are useless, because if I call before the election to ask them to clean up post-election, they either lie and assure me it’s a top priority or they claim they’re too busy to even think about it and that it’s a low priority matter. If  try to contact them after voting day, many of them close down on election night and there’s no one available.  Trying to contact the city or county government has been ineffective also. 

  Are politic signs littering the neighborhoods an issue where you live, especially post-election?

:(

Posted - October 14, 2020

Responses


  • 13395
    The cities should require a permit for the parties to put up all those  signs on public property and charge $5.00 for each sign that is placed. That would pay for the city to clean 'em up and dispose of them.
      October 14, 2020 10:34 AM MDT
    5

  • 52905

     

      Thank you for bringing that up: I have just edited my post as such: Trying to contact the city or county government has been ineffective also. 
    ~

      October 14, 2020 10:44 AM MDT
    2

  • 10449
    We passed a law in this county that states if signs aren't removed within 10 days following an election the person whose name is on the sign will be fined (fines are even stiffer within city limits). We don't have much of a problem with leftover political signs anymore. 
      October 14, 2020 10:45 AM MDT
    4

  • 52905

    Sounds great!  Liberal-minded California (even though claiming to be pro-environment) will probably never allow such “intrusion on personal freedom”. 


      October 14, 2020 11:39 AM MDT
    2

  • 10449
    Um... I'm in California.  To pass the law they called the signs littering.  No one protested the law.
      October 14, 2020 11:59 AM MDT
    3

  • 52905

     

      Ok, thank you. It appears passage of a law and compliance with the law or enforcement of the law are quite different things. 

    ~

      October 14, 2020 1:46 PM MDT
    3

  • 32533
    I don't recall it being a problem. 


      October 14, 2020 10:54 AM MDT
    2

  • 52905
    Thank you for your answer.
    ~
      October 14, 2020 11:39 AM MDT
    2

  • 19942
    I haven't seen any lawn signs in my immediate neighborhood, but I do see them out on Long Island and some of them remain long after the election is over.  
      October 14, 2020 12:39 PM MDT
    3

  • 52905

    Thank you. 
      I‘m not just referring to lawn signs, I’m referring to all campaign-related outdoor advertising, which is a lot here on Southern California, and it can be found both on public property and on private property.
      A slew of it gets erected at every election cycle, a slew of it remains after every election, sometimes for weeks or months.
    ~

      October 14, 2020 1:45 PM MDT
    2

  • 19942
    We don't have much of that in my area either, but Long Island is plastered with campaign signs on lawns, fences, etc.
      October 14, 2020 10:07 PM MDT
    2

  • 537
    Under the Control of Advertisement Regulations, advertisements relating specifically to a pending UK Parliamentary or local government election are exempt from control, on condition that they do not continue to be displayed more than 14 days after the close of the poll. It may occasionally take more than 14 days for the party activists to get round to removing them. But it's not really much of an issue anyway, because election signs are almost always small and low-key, so they do not have much impact on the visual environment. They will usually consist of a piece of card about 12 inches square with the candidate's name and party logo, affixed to a telegraph pole or another item of street furniture about 10 feet off the ground, no doubt to discourage vandalism. This post was edited by Reverend Muhammadovsky at October 14, 2020 5:33 PM MDT
      October 14, 2020 12:52 PM MDT
    3

  • 52905

    Thank you. 

    From my perspective, regardless of size, all litter is litter. 

    ~

      October 14, 2020 1:39 PM MDT
    2

  • 17364
    No.  There are very very few signs posted here, and the ones posted are in yards.  Back home it was not a problem either.  It has never even occurred to me to post a political sign in my yard or anywhere else.  A few times people posted them on our property but in the city's ROW.  I started removing them and to this day if anyone puts a sign in that spot it disappears within hours.  You may live in an area that is really split in the political realm.  I live in a conservative area and conservatives are less likely, it seems to me, to be active politically.  We are well informed and vote.  The winner is the winner.  That's how a democracy works.  The dems are trying to change that.........extreme obviousity!!!!  (No, this word isn't yet in the dictionary but will be...it's one of my new favorites.)
      October 14, 2020 3:35 PM MDT
    3

  • 52905

     

      Thank you.  I’m not specifying either conservative or liberal signage, conservative or liberal campaigns, the focus is on litter being left standing regardless of party affiliation. It’s also on various and sundry locations, not just people‘s yards, which I think is the homeowners’ responsibility to remove or not remove, as opposed to the campaign personnel. I’m mainly referring to the over abundance of signage that can be found in almost any location throughout a neighborhood, which has long been the situation where I live and where I travel throughout certain area of the city and/or county. 

      One of the answers that appears above calls to mind an important factor: while there may be areas in my city and county where political campaign signage does get cleaned up after an election, I wonder if it’s the less-fluent areas where it doesn’t happen in a timely manner or at all. 

    ~

      October 14, 2020 4:39 PM MDT
    1

  • 17364
    I would think that residential areas with low pride of ownership would see less importance of cleaning up after the election.  That does not always equate with affluence.   
      October 14, 2020 4:57 PM MDT
    2

  • 52905

     

      I see the exact opposite in many parts of San Diego County. The higher-end areas are practically pristine almost year-round, and even during election cycles when campaign signs are displayed there, they also get cleaned up pretty quickly. Of course, my entire lament stems from those areas on the other end of the affluence spectrum, those either very close to where I live and interspersed where I live. 


      EDIT: Affluence apparently is the deciding factor in whether or not an area gets cleaned up.

    That does not always equate with affluence.”
    ~

    This post was edited by Randy D at October 15, 2020 9:28 PM MDT
      October 14, 2020 5:03 PM MDT
    2

  • 17364
    You said the same thing I did. 
      October 15, 2020 9:23 PM MDT
    1

  • 52905

     

      You’re correct, I’ll edit it. I meant to say that your last sentence was what I’ve seen as being the opposite. Affluence apparently is the deciding factor in whether or not an area gets cleaned up.

    That does not always equate with affluence.”
    ~

      October 15, 2020 9:27 PM MDT
    0

  • 17364
    I don't agree with that.  There are many lower income neighborhoods where the houses are kept very nice and yard kept pretty too.  It doesn't take wealth to care what your home and neighborhood look like.  I don't argue that the general impression is "poor" neighborhoods care less, but it isn't always true.  We grew up poor.  We lived in a duplex before I started school.....two kids, a mom, an aunt, and a grandfather.  Our house was clean, our grass was cut, and we kids had to be sure all toys were in the backyard before we went in for dinner (supper).  And actually, way before the "Don't be a litter bug" campaign began we were taught to never throw anything on the ground other than dirt. This post was edited by Thriftymaid at October 15, 2020 9:40 PM MDT
      October 15, 2020 9:36 PM MDT
    1

  • 52905

    I’m not saying it’s a 100% across-the-board phenomenon in either all impoverished areas nor in all affluent areas everywhere. I’m just relaying what it’s like here now. I don’t disagree with your last statements. 

    ~

      October 15, 2020 9:39 PM MDT
    1