Election Signs Come Down | Video

Alexander Gorney | 6/11/2012

The primary election is tomorrow but candidates, as well as some volunteers, will be taking down political signs this evening. Those lawn signs we all see while driving are going to be a lot harder to find after tonight. Law 16.1-10-06 says that any person soliciting, inducing, or persuading any voter on an Election Day to vote or refrain from voting for any candidates or any measures is guilty of an infraction.

In other words, having those signs on your lawn past midnight puts you in violation of the law.

"There is a state law that prohibits selectionary on election day. Generally that interpreted that yard signs or any type of signs that are easily removable are removed so they are not visible on election day," said North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger.

Some candidates and backers of certain measures have volunteers removing a plethora of signs and banners all around the state. Bismarck Park Board Candidate Patrick Kellar is taking down all of his election signs down himself.

"I got about 50 signs up around Bismarck it will take about an hour and half to pick them up."

But not all types of campaign ads have to be removed.

"Bumper stickers or a billboard that isn`t easily removed. The law allows them to stay," Jaeger said.

Hundreds of signs are to be taken down tonight, but that could be a small amount compared to the upcoming fall election.

"November there will be a lot of yard signs, because there will be definite contests between the different political parties, the candidates will have their signs up," Jaeger said.

With the hundreds or even thousands of dollars in campaign advertising being taken down, everything now comes down to your vote tomorrow. Backers of some of the measures told me they`ll be collecting their signs starting after sundown tonight.

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