Are Election Signs Useful? And Why You Don't See My Name On Any Of Them

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I was asked the other day why I don’t have election signs covering street corners and intersections. Well, the simple answer is that I’m not interested in contributing to the sign pollution we already face daily. Plus, those signs are not cheap. The last time I priced them (out of curiosity) they were $25+ each. I think that’s too much to spend for the ROI (return on investment). However, both good and bad arguments revolve around election lawn signs.

The Good…

According to Vincent Raynauld, election signs “have a great appeal, especially for voters who are shifting away from text-based communication.” Raynauld is an affiliate professor of communication studies at the University of Quebec Trois-Rivieres. He goes on to say that lawn signs are perceived by people as they drive by them, and since they don’t normally have time to slow down and read what is on the election signs they see, the visuals become more important. Raynauld adds, “these visuals tend to speak to people’s emotions…good visuals that are very appealing might push things over the edge and might convince people to go out and vote.” More on visuals in a minute or two.

The Bad…

Election signs tend to become targets. They get vandalized. They get stolen. I attended a meeting in Kelowna last week with 20 other elected officials representing communities up and down the valley. The topic of election lawn signs came up. One election candidate from the North Okanagan had indicated that her sign budget was getting stretched as she had a total of eight signs stolen over the previous week. Another candidate from the South Okanagan explained that he was recycling signs from his previous election bid from 2018 and had only so many available to use that weren’t defaced.

Do Election Lawn Signs Work?

According to Mount Royal University (Calgary) political scientist Duane Bratt, they do pay dividends. The research he conducted showed that the more lawn signs a certain candidate has, the higher the voter turnout is. With more voters going to the polling station, the better chance the candidate with the most signs has of getting elected. Bratt explains, “Imagine a person who’s not following the election very closely, and they see lots of signs for one candidate. That becomes a kind of momentum, and they believe that while everyone else seems to like this person, maybe I should vote for them, too.”

What Do I Think?

Hmmm. Let me see. The current Princeton Town Council contains five elected officials (1 Mayor, and 4 Councillors). Three candidates were running for Mayor and 15 running for Councillor in the 2018 municipal election. Of the current Town Council, two members did not have lawn signs as part of their election campaign. Fast forward to 2022. 8 candidates are running in this municipal election (2 for Mayor, 6 for Councillor). I am the only candidate not using lawn signs as part of my election campaign. I still don’t think lawn signs are going to impact a small-town municipal election. That’s just my opinion.

How To Design The Perfect Election Lawn Sign

Okay, let’s look at the visuals. Believe it or not, there is a great deal of science behind the design of the perfect election sign. Considering I have 40+ years of experience in media marketing and several years in graphic design, I think I can safely speak on this and offer some valuable insight.

Colours

The first thing I would decide on is the colour combination I would use on my signs (if I were to purchase any). At the top of my list would be black on yellow. The second would be white on red. Those two choices top my list simply because they are the colour combinations used for traffic signs and we are all programmed to look at signs with those colours. White on green would work, black on white, or white on black. I would steer clear of more than two colours on any election lawn sign.

Font

The font is the shape of the letters that appear on your sign. I would stick to a sans serif font (a font where the letters do not have fancy edges to them), and choose one with thick enough lettering that it can be read easily from a short to medium distance. I would also stay away from mixing more than two fonts.

Content

Content is the information that appears on the lawn sign. I am a firm believer in the keep-it-simple rule. On my way to that meeting last week in Kelowna, I saw all kinds of election lawn signs. Of them, I could read only about 10 percent of them. The majority of them were too wordy. I can’t read that much information from a lawn sign as I’m driving by at 100 kph. However, there was one sign design in Peachland that stood out to me. It was a thick font, black on orange. This is what it said: “(Candidate’s name) FOR COUNCIL.” The name was on the top line, the “for Council” below it. That’s all you need on an election sign. You do not need your photo. You do not need to list your qualifications, your platform, your personal information, your contact details, etc. If I had election signs, mine would be black on yellow and all they would say is “GEORGE ELLIOTT FOR COUNCIL.” Short, simple, and to the point. 

*Elections BC requires signs to include a short line that says "Authorized by (name, phone number)" but it can be very, very small.

How Do I Know It Will Work?

I’m a freelance writer. I used a short black-on-yellow message in the advertising of my writing service on a freelance platform I use. It was the only one like that and stood out in searches on that website. It stood out so much, that I was getting hired frequently for writing jobs. The number of jobs I received increased when I changed my marketing visuals to black-on-yellow. They have since dropped as I have changed the visuals again to a more information-based approach. I know the problem, too many words, and too much clutter. I may resurrect the black-on-yellow ad posts once again.

Location

Probably one of the most crucial aspects of election lawn sign use is where you put your signs. Elections BC has some guidelines on where they can’t be posted, but where will you get the best ROI for your signs? Here are some places I would use:

Princeton Landfill
A friend of mine suggested placing an election sign at the entrance to the landfill site. Since it’s municipal property, you shouldn’t post anything there, but I will modify my friend’s idea. I would post a sign opposite the landfill site facing it so that as you drive out of the landfill site and stop to enter Princeton-Summerland Road, you see the sign looking right at you.

KVR
I’ve already seen signs on the trail that cuts through town. I would post signs along there as the majority of people using that route are following the posted speed limit of 30 kph, if they are not on foot, and reading an election sign there would be easier with less distraction from other posters or signs.

Any “T” Intersection
Several places around town have what I would consider a “T” intersection. The best thing about these intersections is that you can’t miss something facing you as you enter the intersection before turning left or right.

Corner Residential Lots
There are neighbourhoods around town with a significant amount of foot traffic. Once you can identify such a location, see if you will be permitted to post your sign on the lawn of the home at the corner of one of these streets. Face the sign in the direction where foot traffic can see and read it as they approach the corner.

In Conclusion

Election lawn signs do serve a purpose provided they are designed correctly and placed in the right location. One thing is for sure, although you won't see my name on election lawn signs, you will find it on your election ballot. On October 15, please cast a vote for me, George Elliott.

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Article Source: CBC News September 2021

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