I have noticed that one candidate for judge already has some campaign signs going up. I thought that the signs could not go up prior to 90 days of the date of the election. Is this correct? Maybe his supporters do not know the rules. What is fair for one campaign should be fair for all. — Interested, El Centro
We received this question Friday morning, and the date as well as the location is pertinent to answering correctly. With one of those needed pieces of information lacking, we can only tell our readers possible legal scenarios.
At first we assumed this would be an easy question, but Imperial County Elections Coordinator Debbie Porter said there are three separate codes or ordinances that factor in, and all have different timeframes.
As part of the candidate paperwork, which none of the judge candidates has returned to the Election Department yet because the official filing date did not even open until this morning, there are three pieces of information pertaining to this.
According to the state Business and Professions Code, Section 5403.3, there must be a statement of responsibility filed with the California Department of Transportation by a candidate. The form is included in the election paperwork.
This pertains to signs along a highway, and includes information that says those signs cannot go up sooner than 90 days before the election and they have to come down within 10 days after.
There is no fine associated with the code, but if Caltrans removes the signs at a cost, the candidate must pay it.
For the city of El Centro, within its boundaries, signs are not supposed to be up prior to 60 days before the election and must be taken down within 14 days after. There is no fine for violating the El Centro ordinance, but calls will be made for the signs to come down.
For Imperial County, there is an ordinance saying signs must not be erected for a period to exceed 120 days, and they must be removed with 15 days after the election.
Porter said if the signs in the county are removed on Election Day, the 120 days started Feb. 6.
That is the one scenario in which a sign already up is not in violation.
So, if it’s by a highway, it’s needs to come down. If it’s in El Centro city limits, it needs to come down. If it’s out in the county, it’s all right.
We received this question Friday morning, and the date as well as the location is pertinent to answering correctly. With one of those needed pieces of information lacking, we can only tell our readers possible legal scenarios.
At first we assumed this would be an easy question, but Imperial County Elections Coordinator Debbie Porter said there are three separate codes or ordinances that factor in, and all have different timeframes.
As part of the candidate paperwork, which none of the judge candidates has returned to the Election Department yet because the official filing date did not even open until this morning, there are three pieces of information pertaining to this.
According to the state Business and Professions Code, Section 5403.3, there must be a statement of responsibility filed with the California Department of Transportation by a candidate. The form is included in the election paperwork.
This pertains to signs along a highway, and includes information that says those signs cannot go up sooner than 90 days before the election and they have to come down within 10 days after.
There is no fine associated with the code, but if Caltrans removes the signs at a cost, the candidate must pay it.
For the city of El Centro, within its boundaries, signs are not supposed to be up prior to 60 days before the election and must be taken down within 14 days after. There is no fine for violating the El Centro ordinance, but calls will be made for the signs to come down.
For Imperial County, there is an ordinance saying signs must not be erected for a period to exceed 120 days, and they must be removed with 15 days after the election.
Porter said if the signs in the county are removed on Election Day, the 120 days started Feb. 6.
That is the one scenario in which a sign already up is not in violation.
So, if it’s by a highway, it’s needs to come down. If it’s in El Centro city limits, it needs to come down. If it’s out in the county, it’s all right.
