Campaign Signs

October 9, 2024

Guest Column by Whitney Hein, Jones County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections

Campaign Signs

Did you know that the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board has jurisdiction over all campaign signage in Iowa except for campaign signs for federal candidates? The Auditor’s office gets a handful of calls each year about the location of campaign signs, and the extended display time of campaign signs.

If you call the Auditor’s office to voice concern about a campaign sign, most likely you will be re-directed to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board website. This website has a very helpful FAQ section on campaign signs and if after reading the FAQ’s you feel the sign does need to be reported to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, there is an online reporting form.

Generally speaking, campaign signs cannot be placed with 300 feet of a polling location, unless the sign is on private property. Campaign signs cannot be placed on private property without the permission of the property owner or on the property of a prohibited campaign contributor. Lastly, campaign signs cannot be placed on public property, in the right-of-way, including between the street and sidewalk, or in places where the sign would block the view of drivers and create a traffic hazard. If a sign is a traffic hazard, it is best to contact local authorities first as the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board is made up of 7 staff members that have to cover the entire state and may not be able to act as quickly as necessary for hazardous situations.

Attribution statements, more commonly known as “paid for by”, are only required to be on signs that are larger than thirty-two square feet or any sign attached to a building or vehicle, excluding bumper stickers. It is encouraged to put a “paid for by” statement on all signs for complete transparency to the public. If you do come across a misplaced sign, the “paid for by” statement is important and would need to be included on the reporting form.

On Election Day, if there are campaign signs on private property that can be seen from inside the polling place, the windows of the polling place must be covered by closing the blinds or putting paper over the window if there are no blinds. Vehicles parked within 300 feet of polling place cannot have any campaign signage on them larger than 90 square inches which is about the size of a normal bumper sticker. Poll workers and poll watchers at the polling place cannot wear clothing or signage that is political in nature. Voters may wear clothing that is political in nature in the polling place. However, they can not loiter in the polling place. They must vote and leave.

For more information on Iowa campaign laws, visit ethics.iowa.gov.