The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board has no jurisdiction over campaign signs for federal candidates. Campaign signs for candidates running for president or Congress are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Election Commission.
If a federal campaign sign is in the right-of-way, creating a traffic hazard, or is located on public property, contact your local law enforcement or public officials directly.
In certain instances, a campaign sign may fall under the jurisdiction of the Iowa Department of Transportation. Click here to review DOT information concerning campaign signs along state highways.
- You can't place a campaign sign on someone's property without their permission.
- You can't place a campaign sign within 300 feet of a polling location, unless the sign is on private property.
- You can't place a campaign sign on public property, in the right-of-way (including in between the sidewalk and street) or where the sign may be a traffic hazard, or on the property of a prohibited contributor.
- Prohibited contributors include corporations, banks, insurance companies, and more. Prohibited contributors do not include limited liability companies or family farm corporations.
We encourage committees to put attribution statements on all campaign signs, regardless of size, to ensure maximum disclosure and transparency for the public.
Campaign signs larger than thirty-two square feet are required to have a "paid for by" attribution statement on the sign. Campaign signs of any size affixed to a building or vehicle (not including bumper stickers) also must have attribution on them.
Iowa Code chapter 68A does not prohibit the use of images on campaign signs. However, you should consider if you are allowed to use a logo or if using it would violate any intellectual property laws.
For example, it would not be a violation of Iowa's campaign sign laws to use a school district's logo or the McDonald's logo, but you could be violating trademark laws by using a logo that doesn't belong to you without permission.
There are no restrictions in Iowa's campaign sign laws on how long a campaign sign can be displayed. However, there may be community specific restrictions that apply, such as from a city or homeowners association.
Report a misplaced campaign sign by submitting this form to our office. Please note that in order to take action to remove a sign we must have supporting evidence including:
1) Photos of the campaign sign that indicates its precise location
2) Proof of who the owner of the property is
In certain instances, a campaign sign may also fall under the jurisdiction of the Iowa Department of Transportation. Click here to review DOT information concerning campaign signs.