Michigan campaign sign rules come from three places at once: a state statute that keeps signs out of highway right-of-way, an election law that creates a 100-foot buffer around polling places, and a patchwork of city and township ordinances that set size, placement, and timing limits on private property. Every sign also has to carry a “Paid for by” disclaimer under state campaign finance law. Get any of these wrong and you can face sign confiscation, civil penalties, or a misdemeanor charge.
Where You Cannot Place a Sign Along State Highways
The Michigan Highway Advertising Act (Public Act 106 of 1972) prohibits signs on any property where the Michigan Department of Transportation holds a highway easement or similar property interest.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 106 of 1972 – Highway Advertising Act In practical terms, that puts campaign signs off-limits inside the right-of-way of any state highway, freeway, or interstate: shoulders, medians, and the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the curb along a state route.
If MDOT flags a sign, the department sends a certified-mail notice to the sign owner or posts a notice on the sign itself when the owner cannot be identified. You then have 60 days to remove the sign or bring it into compliance before MDOT holds an administrative hearing and takes it down. After removal, MDOT can recover double the removal cost or $500, whichever is greater, from either the sign owner or the owner of the property where the sign stood.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 252.319 On top of that, anyone who puts up or maintains a noncompliant sign faces a separate penalty of $100 to $1,000 per violation.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 106 of 1972 – Highway Advertising Act
The “Paid For By” Disclaimer
Every campaign sign in Michigan must identify who paid for it. Under the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, printed material relating to an election must include the phrase “Paid for by” followed by the name and address of the person or committee that actually paid for the printing.3State of Michigan. Loper v. Millek Compiled Yard signs, banners, and other printed campaign material all count.
This one catches independent supporters more than organized campaigns. If you print your own signs for a candidate you like and skip the disclaimer, you are technically in violation of state law. The name and address on the sign has to belong to whoever paid for it, not the candidate being supported.
The 100-Foot Rule at Polling Places on Election Day
On election day, no one may display a campaign sign, banner, poster, or handbill within 100 feet of the entrance to a building where a polling place is located. The same 100-foot rule prohibits soliciting votes. Violating it is a misdemeanor.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 168.744
This applies to everyone, not just campaign workers. A homeowner whose yard sits within 100 feet of a polling-place entrance can be asked to remove or cover a campaign sign for the day. Measure from the building entrance, not the property line. That is where the statute draws the boundary.
Local Rules on Placement, Size, and Timing
Every Michigan city and township can pass its own sign ordinance, and most have. The specifics vary enough that a sign placement that is fine in one municipality can be confiscated in the next.
Placement
Local ordinances generally require campaign signs to stay on private property. Grand Rapids requires all signs to be on private property, treats any sign placed illegally in the public right-of-way as subject to immediate confiscation, prohibits attaching signs to telephone poles, light poles, and trees, and requires at least four feet of clearance between any sign and electrical conductors or light poles.5Municode Library. Grand Rapids Code of Ordinances – Article 15 Signs Detroit requires campaign signs to be set back at least five feet from the sidewalk and prohibits them on commercial property without a permit.6City of Detroit. Yard Signs
Size
Size limits often depend on zoning. Ann Arbor allows one temporary freestanding sign up to six square feet on a lot at any time without a permit.7City of Ann Arbor. Sign Code and Sign Permits The Township of Grass Lake limits signs to six square feet in residential districts.8Grass Lake, MI Code of Ordinances. Grass Lake Code of Ordinances 152.03 Signs Authorized Without a Permit Go over the local cap and you may need a permit, sometimes with a fee.
Timing
Many municipalities also restrict when signs can go up and when they must come down. Grass Lake allows political signs to be erected 60 days before an election and requires removal within 48 hours after election day, with the property owner responsible for taking them down.8Grass Lake, MI Code of Ordinances. Grass Lake Code of Ordinances 152.03 Signs Authorized Without a Permit Other communities set different windows. Timing rules that single out political signs while letting other temporary signs stay up indefinitely are constitutionally shaky, for reasons covered below.
What the First Amendment Limits Cities From Doing
Campaign signs are political speech, and that limits how far a local government can go in regulating them.
In Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a sign ordinance that applied different size, timing, and placement rules to different sign categories based on their subject matter. Any sign regulation that treats categories of speech differently based on content faces strict scrutiny, the most demanding constitutional test. So a city cannot lawfully impose stricter rules on political signs than it does on “for sale” signs or seasonal decorations. An ordinance that allows a 12-square-foot real estate sign but caps political signs at six square feet is almost certainly unconstitutional.
Content-neutral rules that apply the same way to all temporary signs face a lower bar. They still have to be narrowly tailored to serve an important government interest, such as traffic safety, and must leave open adequate alternative ways to get the message out. Uniform size limits generally survive. Timing limits that only apply to political signs generally do not.
On private residential property, the government’s authority is at its weakest. Courts have long recognized the home as a uniquely protected space for expression. An ordinance that bans or severely limits campaign signs on your own property has a hard time surviving First Amendment review, especially when other temporary signs are allowed in the same spot.
Penalties for Getting It Wrong
- State highway right-of-way: MDOT can recover double the removal cost or $500 (whichever is greater), plus a separate $100 to $1,000 per-violation penalty.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 252.3191Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 106 of 1972 – Highway Advertising Act
- Polling-place buffer: Displaying campaign materials within 100 feet of a polling-place entrance on election day is a misdemeanor.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 168.744
- Local ordinances: Penalties vary. Many cities impose escalating fines for repeat violations. Some authorize immediate confiscation of signs placed in the public right-of-way, as Grand Rapids does.5Municode Library. Grand Rapids Code of Ordinances – Article 15 Signs
Persistent local violations can escalate past fines into court orders requiring removal and prohibiting further violations.
Defenses if You Are Cited
The strongest defense is usually a First Amendment challenge, particularly when a local ordinance treats political signs differently from other temporary signs. After Reed, content-based distinctions face strict scrutiny and typically fail. An ordinance that allows year-round “for sale” signs but restricts campaign signs to a 60-day pre-election window is a good candidate for that argument.
Vagueness is another option. If a local ordinance does not clearly define where signs are prohibited or what counts as the “right-of-way,” you can argue the regulation is too vague to enforce fairly. Michigan courts have struck down municipal codes on due process grounds when the language left reasonable people guessing about what was actually prohibited.
For Highway Advertising Act violations, the 60-day notice-and-cure period gives you a window to fix the problem before the penalty phase begins. If MDOT skipped the required certified-mail or posted notice, that procedural failure is itself a defense against removal and cost-recovery.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 252.319
None of these are guarantees. Compliance up front is almost always cheaper than fighting a citation. But knowing the arguments exist helps you decide whether a particular notice is worth contesting or just worth correcting.
One Note on Taxes
Campaign sign costs are not tax-deductible. Federal law disallows deductions for advertising in publications whose proceeds benefit a political party or candidate, and the IRS treats political and campaign spending as nondeductible more broadly.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 276 – Certain Indirect Contributions to Political Parties That covers business owners who paid for signs, individual donors who bought yard signs, and campaign committees buying in bulk. Listing sign costs as advertising on a business return is a common audit trigger.