Election officer: Campaign signs in right-of-way present safety hazard

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – You may have a campaign sign in your yard, or perhaps a neighbor has one. But is the sign legally placed?

Alan Thiese is a concerned Bibb County resident who shared his feelings about the situation.

“Maybe I don’t need to support the candidates that have supporters that think they can get by with violating the law,” Thiese said.

The Official Code of Georgia Annotated 32-6-51 governs the placement of such signs. It states that it is unlawful to place a sign within the dedicated right-of-way of any public road.

So what’s a right-of-way?

Thomas Gillon, an election officer with the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections, defines the right-of-way as, “the boundaries on the sides of public roads that are allowed for pedestrian traffic, bicycle traffic and so forth.”

He says illegally placed signs can present a safety hazard.

“If you can’t see oncoming traffic because of signs, then badly placed signs could cause accidents,” Gillon said.

The disconnect may be a result of campaigning before knowing the rules.

“When the candidates or individuals come in to actually qualify for office, which would be the first week of March, we give them an information packet which tells them what they can and cannot do,” Gillon said.

Here in December, Thiese has advice for candidates.

“If you are a candidate, when you are handing out your signs, I would suggest, I want to look good to the potential voters, put these signs where the should be,” Thiese said.

The board of elections says that if you have questions, don’t wait until March for guidance.

“Any campaign manager or candidate can come to us. We’ll give them what guidelines we have and hopefully, they can go by that,” Gillon said.

Removal process

Owners of illegally-placed yard signs will receive written notice for removal. If the owner does not remove the sign within 30 days, officials can remove them.