Though the primary election has come and gone, the campaign signs of many unsuccessful candidates are still staking claims at street corners and empty lots across the county.
But their days are numbered.
All signs belonging to losing primary candidates need to be down 15 days after the polls close. That’s Wednesday, said Matt Roberts with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.
There is no penalty for losing candidates who don’t adhere to the cutoff date, but there is an effort to rid the streets of their signs.
Still, officials said most signs are removed quickly.
Pima County typically calls candidates after the 15-day period ends to remind them of the deadline, said Annabelle Valenzuela, program manager at the Pima County Department of Transportation. If the signs have not been removed, candidates get a warning to take them down within 24 hours.
If the signs are still there, the county will remove them and take them to the transportation warehouse.
Some signs, Valenzuela concedes, will be missed by county workers.
“We don’t have the resources to track the signs,” she said. “Successful candidates still have signs out there, and they all blend in.”
The county will collect the signs if they see them, she said.
“People will call in or we’ll drive by an area and notice the signs out there and pick them up.”
In Marana, town employees go out shortly after the 15-day period ends and start taking down the signs, then notify candidates where to collect their property, said Bill Lorefice, a code enforcement officer with the Town of Marana.
“We want to make sure we’re in compliance with state law,” he said.
The city of Tucson does not notify candidates about out-of-compliance signage.
“If we get a complaint or if one of our inspectors sees it, we take it down and bring it to our sign corral,” said Michael Wyneken, interim code enforcement administrator for the city.
Candidates can call the city office if they want to retrieve their signs, he said.
