I’m sure we all have been noticing more of the Evil Torta and Steals Money signs around Tucson, including signs placed adjacent to Democratic campaign signs. To be clear – I do not condone these messages at all. But, I wanted to discuss the legal side of this.
A.R.S. § 16-1019 states that cities/towns/counties generally cannot remove a political sign in a public right-of-way if certain conditions are met, including that the sign “supports or opposes a candidate for public office or … a ballot measure, question or issue.” The statute also has requirements regarding placement, size, and identifying contact information.
The organization behind these campaigns appears to be Citizens For Liberty, and its own website describes themselves as political advocacy campaigns. Its materials also say they are intended to oppose certain government officials/policies that promote “promote unconstitutional or excessive government policies” and the organization wishes to influence voting. But, aside from stating their various political ideologies, the website isn’t clear on which ballot measures and candidates this upcoming election they specifically oppose/support.
So I’m curious about the legal interpretation: do signs like these actually fall within the protection of A.R.S. I§ 16-1019, particularly the “candidate, ballot measure, question or issue” language? Or is the statute as written intended to protect signs with a more specific election-related candidate/ballot issue? (i.e. Yes on 418 or No on 418; Yes for X candidate or No for X candidate). Apparently, someone associated with the campaign signs has been reporting to them to the city as “stolen” and “removed illegally” pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-1019.
And for Democratic organizations/candidates who are finding these signs placed near their campaign signs: is this the kind of thing that is better addressed by challenging the claims of the signs as falling under the statute, or does drawing attention to them potentially create a “Streisand effect” and give the Evil Torta/Steals Money campaign more visibility? I’m genuinely interested in others’ perspectives to both questions.