MACON, Ga. — As election day draws nearer, people may see a number of political signs along the road in other's yards. Voters can publicly tout campaign material but Georgia statute requires them to be in compliance with local ordinances.
Political parties distribute campaign signs to put their candidate name and message before voters and increase voter mobilization efforts on the ground. It's called "electioneering." For property owners with yard signs, it's an endorsement for someone on the ballot but there's legal limits.
Kim White and her non-partisan non-profit organization, Helping Others Foundation of Georgia, spend election cycles encouraging folks to get out and vote. She says with permission from Macon Mall management, they use signs to be more visible while keeping an appropriate distance from the polls.
"We make sure we exercise the right of the mall by making sure we move these signs at the end of each day," White said.
Byron Police Chief Wesley Cannon said it's important to follow any rules on election signs, adding signs can't be within 150 ft. of polling places or on city and county property. Recently, someone placed signs in front of a memorial located on Byron city property.
"It looked nice, but we as a city can't promote one candidate or the other," Cannon said. "That's why there's an ordinance against placing campaign signs on city owned property, so we just simply pull the signs up."
Power poles count as private property too. Cannon said don't nail political material to power poles or place them in other people's yards and while someone may be urged to sway their neighbors, he says to not take signs from someone else's yard without permission because you could be charged with trespassing.
'In a nutshell, the only place you can put a campaign sign is either on your property or through the consent of a property owner," Cannon said.
Regarding larger campaign signs, Cannon said to avoid blocking other driver's visibility.
"If there's a accident, you could be liable, civilly, in that accident if it's ruled that your signage might have potentially caused or obscured one's view," Cannon said.
White said she encourages everyone to vote regardless of their political affiliation but she wants everyone to also follow the rules. Also don't forget to pick up campaign signs following the general election. Cannon said refer to county ordinances for the deadline to remove signs.