Primary brings big change for campaign sign placement

They’re coming. It’s inevitable.

Like a plague of locusts, campaign signs will soon invade the city, covering seemingly every square foot of available space for months.

As Maricopa moves into election season for local, state and federal offices, signs will reappear on street corners, medians, front lawns and vacant lots. They cannot go up in public rights of way before May 23.

But they won’t be going up in some of the most visible places this year.

According to City Clerk Vanessa Bueras, the city will enforce a state law stating, “State highways or routes, or overpasses over those state highways or routes, are not included in the areas where signs are allowed.”

“Political signs are always an issue,” Bueras said. “This year … signs cannot be placed on SR 347.”

Bueras, who was still trying to ascertain Tuesday night whether the ban applies to signs both in the median and along the sides of the roadway, said a glitch that prevented the city from enforcing the regulation in 2020 has been eliminated.

“We didn’t maintain the right of way on 347 during the last election,” Bueras said. “Although signs couldn’t be placed on 347, we didn’t enforce it because it wasn’t our right of way. If (the Arizona Department of Transportation) came through and pulled signs, we wouldn’t know about it and we wouldn’t know where they would take them. We would tell candidates that we didn’t maintain it so if they placed signs on 347, they would risk ADOT pulling them and keeping them. Now we maintain the right of way so we will be enforcing the statute.”

During the run-up to the 2020 election, some Trump supporters claimed signs were being stolen from along SR 347, though there was talk that state crews were removing them.

Other sections of the Arizona Revised Statutes both citizens and candidates should be aware of include:

• Political signs cannot be put up earlier than 71 days before a primary election and must be removed within 15 days after the general election.

• Candidates who run in a primary and do not advance must remove their signs within 15 days after the primary.

• Although signs cannot be placed in state roadways, they sign can be placed in a public right-of-way that is owned or controlled by the City of Maricopa. But they are not permitted to be placed on light standards and traffic signs, nor city-owned railings along SR 347.

• Signs may only support or oppose a candidate for public office or a ballot measure.

• Signs cannot be placed in a location that is hazardous to public safety, obstructs clear vision in the area or interferes with the requirements of the American with Disabilities Act.

• The maximum size (area) of political signs is 16 square feet if the sign is located in a residential area or 32 square feet in any other location.

• Every sign must include the name and either a phone number or web address of the candidate or campaign committee contact person.