ORLANDO, Fla. — Osceola County residents voting early won’t see the usual array of colorful political signs when they go cast ballots after the county banned them at some polling locations — a move the local Republican Party calls vague and illegal.

The county emailed candidates running for local offices Friday demanding they remove signs at polling locations owned by the county or risk them being discarded. The county said signs at early-voting locations violate Osceola’s Land Development Code.

“It would not be fair for the county to enforce those codes on private property owners (both residential and commercial) and not abide by those codes on its own properties,” county spokesman Tom Alexander said in an email.

The code states “no temporary signs, including but not limited to political campaign advertisements, shall be erected, posted, painted, tacked, nailed, or otherwise displayed, placed or located on or above any county road right-of-way. Any sign placed in violation would be subject to Code Enforcement action and subject to a removal fee of $10.00 per violation.”

Alexander said because the signs only seem to be placed on county properties that serve as polling locations, it could appear the decision is political in nature. But it’s simply about applying the County Land Development Code fairly to all properties in the county, he said.

Many polling locations are at fire stations, the tax collector’s offices, public libraries and other county-owned buildings. The county rule would not apply to polling sites at other locations such as churches or community centers.

Of the county’s 49 polling sites 33 are not county owned, Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Kari Ewalt said in an email. Over 24,200 Osceola residents have already voted, according to the latest state data.

The Osceola County Republican Party called the move “election interference” and says candidates are left wondering where they can place signs. And not only does the party think the policy vague, it said it violates state laws.

Florida Statutes No. 102.031 states that “the owner, operator, or lessee of the property on which a polling place or an early voting site is located, or an agent or employee thereof, may not prohibit the solicitation of voters by a candidate or a candidate’s designee outside of the no-solicitation zone during polling hours.”

Mark Cross, Osceola GOP, said he believes the policy unfairly targets Republicans because it was implemented just after they posted signs against prominent local Democrats running for reelection.

“When we started going around to some of these locations we found out they were only taking down signs of Republicans, and we have video and pictures to prove it,” Cross said. “That’s the despicable thing about this because you can’t put the signs on private property across the poll center without permission from the owner so they effectively canceled any messaging in this election.”

Osceola County Democrats did not respond to a request for comment. However, local Democrats running for reelection said they pulled their signs down: Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington, Osceola County Property Appraiser Katrina Scarborough and County Commissioner Brandon Arrington said they removed their signs to comply with the policy.

Cross said party members and Republican candidates countywide plan to have people carrying signs in front of polling locations throughout the early voting period and on Election Day.

“Obviously they have a problem with the signs, so if we have people at the locations they can’t arrest people,” Cross said. “Lots of people want to wave signs and I don’t think they will go to the level of arresting anyone — but if they do we will force them to do that.”

He said the party plans to challenge the policy and has contacted lawyers. Although any legal action won’t be resolved before the election, Cross said he’s looking into alternative solutions to get signs back in front of voters before Tuesday.

“We sought opinions from the state division of elections and lawyers said we would win if we sue but you won’t get any satisfaction before the election,” Cross said. “We still may take legal action after the election.”

The county’s decision is just the latest feud between candidates and local governments.

In March, Kissimmee adopted a similar rule — although unlike the county it provided an alternative area for candidates to place signs. The city’s rule was an effort to control the number of signs but drew criticism during August primaries when candidates failed to comply.

The city’s rule states that campaign signage affixed to vehicles at early voting sites must not exceed size limits and vehicles should be parked “in a normal manner.” The prescribed penalty is removal of signs. People running for offices said the policy leads to hijinks with complaints and countercomplaints between candidates along with confusion about standards.

_____

©2024 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.