How to check if an Arizona political sign is legal (and what to do if it isn't)

TL;DR: Every campaign sign in Arizona has to say "paid for by ___" and that line has to be a minimum percentage of the sign's height. 4% if a candidate's own committee paid for it. 10% if a PAC paid for it. The Secretary of State enforces this against the committee. The city can remove the sign from public rights-of-way. Both only work when somebody reports.

It's campaign sign season. The 48-inch corrugated-plastic signs on rebar stakes are at every corner. Below are the rules, how to check a sign, and where to send a complaint when one doesn't comply.

---

The rule, in plain English

A.R.S. § 16-925 covers what every campaign sign and political ad has to say in Arizona. Two pieces:

1. The sign has to say who paid for it. That's the "paid for by ___" line. Required.
2. That line has to be a minimum percentage of the sign's vertical height:
   • 4% if a candidate's own committee paid for it
   • 10% if a political action committee (PAC) paid for it

Why the higher number for PACs? Because PACs are how outside money flows into campaigns. The Legislature decided that when an outside group is the one putting a face on a sign at your intersection, voters should be able to read whose money is behind it from across two lanes of traffic.

On a 4-foot sign (the standard size for the ones you see at every corner): 4% works out to about 1.9 inches. 10% works out to about 4.8 inches. Tape-measure stuff.

There's also a separate VRKA disclaimer under A.R.S. § 16-974 that requires naming the top-3 donors on the sign, but it only kicks in once the group has spent more than $50,000 statewide or $25,000 local in an election cycle. Less common to spot in the wild.

---

How to check a sign

You need three things: your eyes, a tape measure, and a phone camera.

1. Find the "paid for by ___" line. Usually at the bottom of the sign, sometimes printed sideways. If it isn't there at all, that's a § 16-925(A) violation right there.
2. Identify who paid. Is it a candidate committee ("Friends of Jane Doe") or a PAC ("Acme Action PAC")? That decides which percentage applies.
3. Measure the sign's vertical height. Most are 48 inches.
4. Measure the cap height of the "paid for by" line. Hold the tape measure against the line itself.
5. Do the math. Candidate committee: at least 4% of the sign's height. PAC: at least 10%. Smaller than that is a § 16-925(D)(4) violation.
6. Photograph it. Wide shot showing the sign and the intersection, plus a close-up of the disclosure with the tape measure visible. Date your photos.

---

Where to report

You can come at this from two angles. Ideally both.

1. The Secretary of State (goes after the committee that printed it)

The SOS is the office that enforces § 16-925 against state-registered committees and candidate committees. They can investigate and impose penalties.

• Email: campaignfinance@azsos.gov
• What to send: a short complaint identifying the committee, the location of the sign(s), and the violation. Include the photos. Saying you're a registered Arizona voter helps.

2. The city where the sign is planted (gets the sign out of the ground)

State law generally protects political signs from being removed during election season. There's an exception: signs placed in violation of state law aren't protected. A sign that doesn't carry the required "paid for by" line is, by definition, in violation of state law. The city can pull it.

• Phoenix: phoenixelections@phoenix.gov
• Tempe: clerk@tempe.gov
• Chandler: Jennifer.Ekblad@chandleraz.gov
• Mesa, Gilbert, Scottsdale, etc.: check your city clerk or elections page

The two statutes to cite in a city letter are A.R.S. § 16-1019(B) (signs "placed in violation of state law" exception) and A.R.S. § 16-1019(C)(5) (signs that don't satisfy the contact-info requirement). Include the intersection and the photos.

---

What happens after

• SOS: assigns a docket number, usually within about four business days based on recent patterns. They forward the complaint to the committee for a response. Eventually they make a reasonable-cause determination and decide whether to act.
• City: sends an inspector or notifies the committee directly. Chandler and Phoenix have been responsive in my experience. Tempe is historically slower.

This isn't the kind of enforcement that needs a six-month investigation. The violation is on the face of the sign. Done in an afternoon.

---

A worked example

I filed six of these today against two committees (NicoPAC and the Thompson/Myers Corp Commissioner slate). The signs ranged from "no disclosure at all" to "disclosure at about 23% of what the law requires." Full write-up plus the actual filings as PDFs at azfollowthe.money/darkmoney/blog/2026-06-13-sign-complaints if you want to see what these look like in practice.

The whole point of this law is that voters should be able to tell at a glance who's paying to put a face in front of them. When the sign doesn't carry that, somebody has to ask.

Happy to answer questions.