Candidates should play by the rules

Is anyone else annoyed by the early proliferation of political campaign signs all over the valley? County and city regulations are clear — no political signs until 30 days before the election (except Whitefish, which allows 90 days), and that applies to both the June primary and the November general election. The signs are supposed to come down one week after each election.

These candidates who have had their signs up for 60 to 90 days or more before the June primary are either ignorant of the regulations or are deliberately ignoring them. It seems some campaigns develop “defensible excuses,” like mounting “moveable” signs on trailers or vehicles and parking them on private property, and then taking advantage of the fact that the county and city election departments, and planning and zoning departments, have neither the staff nor the resources to do anything but “complaint-based” response, and even then, the campaigns have 30 days to “voluntarily comply” once they are notified of a violation.

Since many voters make last-minute decisions in the voting booth based on name recognition rather than knowledge of the candidate and what they represent, that means these candidates bending the rules with their early signs are taking an unfair advantage over candidates who respect the spirit of the campaign sign laws.

Technically, they may not be breaking the law, but certainly they are stretching the ethics of free and fair elections. If they signed the state’s Form C-3 Code of Fair Campaign Practices pledge, they swore to conduct their campaign ”in the best American tradition” and certified they “would not undertake or condone any dishonest or unethical practice which tends to corrupt or undermine our American system of free elections, or which hampers or prevents the full and free expression of the will of the voters.”

If they didn’t sign that pledge, it makes you wonder what kind of an elected official they would ultimately be if elected. I think we all ought to play by the rules, be fair and open, respect the spirit of the law designed to establish a level playing field, and not be skulking around looking for loopholes to get elected. We should succeed or fail by letting the voters know our true positions, and trust they will make the best decision. Bending the campaign laws to gain an unfair advantage does not reflect well on the sort of candidate they may be.

Gil Jordan, of Coram, is the Democratic candidate for the Flathead County commissioner position for the north valley.