It's that season again. Political season, that is. More specifically, it is political sign season. Don't believe it? Look around. Since Memorial Day, signs touting various candidates in upcoming primary and general elections are multiplying at an astounding rate along streets and in yards cross the region. It's all part of a time-honored process that is essential to democracy.
The placement of signs, though, carries with it a responsibility - to remove them once a campaign is over. That obligation is not always honored. After every election, some signs remain in place for weeks or months. Some are forgotten in the flush of victory. Others are vestiges of a failed candidacy. Whatever the case, failure to remove the signs in a timely manner following an election is not only unsightly and impolite, it is in many instances illegal.
That's the case in Tennessee. State law requires that all election signs on public property, like roadsides, be removed within three weeks following an election. The legislation has no real penalty attached, but that is beside the point.
The state regulation and the few instances where there are local rules governing the signs are useful reminders that those given the privilege of placing political signs in public places before an election have an obligation to remove them after campaigning and voting have concluded. Signs on private property, of course, remain there at the discretion of the property owner. However, pressure from nearby residents who want an end to what they say is an unsightly scene often prompts removal of the signs in the name of neighborhood amity.
The situation is similarly fluid in Georgia. There is no statewide regulation about election signage, though transportation workers regularly remove signs along roadways and certain roadsides. Many counties and municipalities in the state, however, do have regulations about placement and removal of signs, said a spokesman for the Georgia Secretary of State's office. Some, in fact, now require candidates to post a bond before placing signs. The money is returned only when the signs are removed in a timely fashion. Reportedly, the bond requirement has prompted increasing levels of compliance with the rules. Money, it seems, is almost always a powerful incentive to obey the law.
Primary and general elections dot the upcoming calendar. There is always the possibility of run-off balloting, too. As long as there are races to be run, candidates will use signs to court votes. That's fine, as long as they remove them.
There is a sensible exception to removal rules. Candidates advancing from primary to general election or those in a runoff can leave signs in place until additional rounds of voting are completed. Balancing free speech with a desire to have a region free of clutter calls for an artful touch. Current rules work. They allow general use of signs during the election but require prompt removal of them after balloting. It's a reasonable compromise.