Political sign season: How they can and cannot be posted

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — As the heat turns up on election season headed into Nov. 5th, political signs are being placed all over Eastern North Carolina.

People do need to recognize there are important rules to follow about where these signs can be placed. Many are set up at street corners and intersections ahead of the election.

“Those signs are allowed 30 days prior to the start of early voting which I believe starts on Oct. 17,” North Carolina Department of Transportation District Engineer Robby Taylor said. “They can be placed inside the right of way, as long as they are placed in compliance with that general statute.”

That statute is N-C 136-32 and it includes important information on the rules of where political signs can be placed.

“Occasionally, we will get a complaint from a citizen where a sign is blocking a site distance and we will go out and investigate it, “Taylor said. “If it is blocking, we will explain to the candidate this sign is causing a traffic hazard and if they could move it to a different location.”

These rules are all geared toward keeping drivers safe don’t the roads. “You could put a sign out there that could obscure a motorist’s view of an oncoming car and it could create a traffic accident,” Taylor said.

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