These yard signs for Signal Mountain candidates Chris Howley and Dr. Bob Spalding do not comply with state law, according to the Election Commission
Three Signal Mountain Town Council candidates were notified Wednesday that the campaign signs they have planted in yards all over the town violate state law.
Chris Howley, Dick Gee and Dr.
Bob Spalding all were given one week to add a line to each sign that identifies the person or group who paid for it.
“It’s really simple to fix,” according to Charlotte Mullis at the Hamilton County Election Commission. “All they have to do is have stickers printed that say “Paid for by (?????)” and put one on each sign.
Mr. Howley, who was out of town, said he had not yet heard about the mandate but “If that’s what the law says then that’s what we’ll do.”
He said approximately 225 signs asking people to vote for him have been posted in supporters’ yards and in other spots around town.
But he said he doesn’t anticipate any problems getting the changes made within the allotted week. “I’ll probably send out an email letting people know about it,” he said.
Dr. Spalding said he was contacted by the election office on Wednesday morning.
He’s not sure how many of his signs are posted around town, he said, “but this is a small community. I think we can probably get this done in a couple of days.”
Attempts to reach incumbent Town Council member Dick Gee for comment were unsuccessful.
According to www.Signs.com, an online site promoting signs for a wide variety of effective and legal uses, laws governing how and where signs can be used vary from state to state.
“Under Tennessee law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-19-120), any campaign sign that advocates for or against the election of a candidate or that seeks campaign contributions must have a disclaimer that clearly states who paid for the sign. The required information for this disclaimer varies by the person or group that sponsors the signage,” the website notes.
“If the candidate or his/her committee authorizes and pays for the sign, the disclaimer should say that the sign was paid for by the candidate/committee and list the name of the committee chairperson or treasurer,” it explains. “If the sign is authorized by the candidate but funded by another person or group, the sign should state that the sign was paid for by the other entity but is authorized by the candidate."
“Finally, if the sign was not paid for or authorized by the candidate, the disclaimer must specify who paid for the sign and state that it is not authorized by the candidate,” Signs.com said.
“In addition to these sign content requirements, Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-7-111 establishes laws concerning sign placement, namely that campaign signs cannot be displayed or posted within 100 feet of the entrance to a voting location on election day,” the site noted. “On a related note, signs cannot be placed within the right-of-way of a public highway, particularly those designated as main traveled roads (Tenn. Code Ann. § 54-5-703).”