Photo Credit: Scottsdale Police Department
Every two years, we all know what’s coming in Maricopa County; every single intersection with any traffic at all is inundated with street signs. All four corners sign six, eight, or ten signs put end-to-end, some towering over others, some with passive-aggressive mini-signs put next to them. It has turned into the lowest level of politicking, typified by boring designs with a singular color (other than white) into the merging of a chess match and an art form.
But with any politicking comes haters, those that want to suppress that message, whatever it may be. And along with that comes the lowest form of activism…sign destruction.
This was recently caught on camera in Scottsdale with a violator who apparently is not a fan of Kari Lake. But while partisans will likely foam at the mouth and scream “LOOK AT WHAT THEY DO!!! THEY’RE EVIL!!!”, this is hardly something that can be pinned on one side of the aisle. Nearly every candidate that has the resources to put up significant signage has dealt with this, some worse than others.
There are conversations to be had about the efficacy of street signs. They are expensive, installation can be either labor-intensive drudgery if you put them up yourself (often in the middle of summer) or a significant campaign expense if you pay to have it done. It’s difficult to make your message stick out when you’re one amongst many. By most metrics they’re a high-cost, low-impact form of bolstering name identification, which for candidates like Kari Lake (who essentially every voter is aware of), there’s not really a point to both putting up the signs or destroying them.
Also, there’s the legality aspect; destroying or defacing political signs is a class 2 misdemeanor, one that can cost you up to four months in jail. From a personal perspective, this is a high risk activity with nearly no upside. And Ruben Gallego (or whatever candidate is ostensibly helped by your activities) isn’t going to visit you in jail.
But ultimately, it’s just wrong. Let the candidates’ good or bad ideas speak for themselves. Don’t stifle free speech, as much as you might find it odious. In doing so, you’re no better than the candidate you think is the devil. Get involved with the campaign of your favorite candidate, volunteer and knock on doors or make phone calls to talk to voters and persuade them of the merits of your candidate. That is democracy and free speech in action, not sign-destroying.