Should my K/E sign stay or go?

[Xithras]

I'm torn between acquiescing to a law I agree with, and supporting the candidate I want to win.

First, a little back story. My house is located across the street from an elementary school on a fairly busy three way intersection. Several weeks ago I did some volunteer phone banking at the local party office and, when the person running the phones found out where I lived, was given a great 5 foot wide Kerry/Edwards mini-billboard sign to be planted on my front lawn right on the corner. It has sat there since, seen by hundreds of passing cars a day.

As I was leaving for work this morning I walked out my front door to find a couple of guys standing on my front lawn looking at my sign. One of them identified himself to me as a rep from the local elections office, and he told me that I would have to TAKE MY KERRY SIGN DOWN, because it currently sits 89 feet from the corner of the school gym, which is a designated polling place for tomorrows election. There is a rule that apparently bans any "electioneering" within 100 feet of any polling place, and they told me that I faced fines or possible arrest if I didn't remove the signs before tomorrow (there are several others out there for local races and measures as well). They suggested that I move the signs back 11 feet (which would place them behind a row of hedges) to be legal, but I ended up agreeing to just remove them tonight.

The more I think about it though, the madder I get. Why should I have to take down my Kerry signs from my own yard? Nobody has EVER complained about political signs in my yard before, and the school has been the neighborhood polling place since it was built 10 years ago. Looking down my street, I also realized that every other yard is sporting a Bush/Cheney sign, and that my Kerry sign is the only real Democratic signage in the neighborhood. Everyone who walks or drives in to the school from any of the three directions will pass literally dozens of B/C signs which are "legal" because they're past the 100 foot mark. Losing my sign will mean losing not only a Democratic presence, but by far the biggest political sign in the immediate area.

1) I realize this is a California specific question, but do they really have the right to make me remove political signs from my own property because I live next to a polling place?

2) Even if they can't force me to move it, they have already made it abundantly clear that they plan to press the issue if I don't remove the signs. Should I fight them on it, or just remove them and forget about it? My wife doesn't think it matters (her exact quote: "It's election day, your sign isn't going to change anybodies mind anyway"), but I object to the basic argument that the government has a right to determine what political message I can promote on my own property. Would you fight it, or would you forget about it?

[ramblin_dave]

1. You can't just move it 12 feet or so?

Keep it 101 feet away.

[VTMechEngr]

2. I'd fight. Its your Property!

[American liberal]

3. I'd move the sign because

it's the law. The past 10 years don't really count. THIS election is being scrutinized more than any in recent memory, which is a good thing. We don't want to see a repeat of 2000.

Are you sure 11 feet would be behind the hedges? Could you get a tall stake and post it atop the hedges? or someplace else in your yard that is kitty-corner from the school but still visible to passersby?

I appreciate your frustration. I would be pissed, too. But don't make it worse for yourself. Maybe you could go down to Kerry headquarters and get a giant banner to run across the eaves of your roof, or something. Something that stands out even more than the pro-Bush signage.

Good luck in CA! See you at the polls!

Peace,
AL

[BiggJawn]

4. "Corner" of the gym?

Do a quick check and find out if the law states "polling place", or ENTRANCE to the polling place.

Here in Indiana it's ENTRANCE to the polling place, and it's only 25 feet.

I think you were being fucked with. and if it IS "Polling place", call the election commission and pitch a bitch about the Pinky and The Brain signs that are within 100' of the PROPERTY LINE of the school.

Hey, if the law doesn't say "Entrance" and the "Rep from the election office" (A RETHUG rep, I'll wager) says you're too close to the corner of the building, you claim the law says "polling Place" and you take that to mean the property line.

Also, see to it that they bar people from entering the parking lot with any "W" shit on their vehicles. Make them require people to park 100' away.

And if I had been you, I'd had asked those goons for their warrant, and producing none, informed them that they were tresspassing and liable to prosecution.