A Baltimore County lawmaker has reintroduced a bill that would limit the life span of campaign signs on private property to 30 days before the vote ? a move some critics say violates free speech rights.
If passed, the law would apply to campaign signs approved by candidates with an official authority line, said Council Member Kevin Kamenetz, D-District 2, who sponsored the legislation. The bill also limits one sign per candidate per lot and allows the county to hold the property owner and campaign treasurer responsible for violations.
Kamenetz called some signs eyesores and traffic hazards.
“During the election, people were putting up signs of the wrong size, and then I would pass by a home that would have 20 signs for the same candidate,” Kamenetz said. “Then, there were complaints that some candidates had a billboard affixed to a side of a truck.”
Kamenetz first proposed the changes in April, but withdrew the bill when other candidates said a time limit on signs only benefited incumbents who already had established name recognition with voters. Officials from the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union protested the bill under free speech arguments and said they will monitor the renewed attempt now.
The organization disputed Kamenetz?s position that the bill falls under similar restrictions on candidates, such as the amount of money they can raise, how that money gets spent and how they have to report it to the public.
“The fact that it targets official campaign signs does not change the fact that it?s the speech of the residents that?s being restricted,” ACLU Maryland spokeswoman Meredith Curtis said. “They have a right to use their lawns to express their political views.”
The council will discuss the bill at its Dec. 12 work session and vote at its legislative meeting Dec. 18.
The county requires signs to be removed seven days after an election and prohibits signs in the public right-of-way.
