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Political Sign Restrictions in 2026
Whether an association can restrict political signs is a question of multiple levels of federal, state, and local laws. The First Amendment limits government, and an association is a private corporation, complicating the issue. In Mazdabrook Commons v. Khan, New Jersey's Supreme Court struck down an association's near-total sign ban — but it relied on the New Jersey Constitution, not the First Amendment.
At least nine states limit what an association may restrict around political signs. We found statutes in California, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada, Colorado, Washington and Maryland, plus the New Jersey decision above. State laws generally overrule association governing documents, so proper legal counsel is important here.
Those statutes still permit association restrictions. Under the statutes we read, an association may restrict things like the number of signs, their size, the materials, where on the owner's own lot they go, and how long they stay up.
Two states set explicit date windows on political sign rules. Texas runs from 90 days before an election to 10 days after, with a 4-by-6-foot limit and one sign per candidate or measure. Maryland lets an association limit display to 30 days before and 7 days after, states no size or number limit, and still allows restriction in the common areas.
AZ, CO and WA forbid restricting by content. Arizona, Colorado and Washington are written so that limits may not depend on a sign's subject matter or message. Under those statutes, what matters is the basis for a limit. A rule that applies to one sign and not another because of what it says is a limit on content, not on placement. Arizona's also provides that an association may not require commercially produced signs.
A flag law is not a sign law. This is an easy mistake to make when reading a state statute, because the two are often in the same chapter. Florida is the clearest example. Section 720.304 covers two portable flags, a freestanding flagpole up to 20 feet, and a security-company sign near an entrance. Political yard signs are not in it. For FL condominiums, 718.113(4) is the parallel provision. It covers flags — the U.S. flag, and official military flags on a short list of holidays — and not political signs.
What we don't know. Nine is what we found, not a closed list. CAI lists roughly 28 states with some sign or flag statute, though that chart is dated October 2020 — and most of the other statutes we read cover flags only, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio and Tennessee among them. A state missing from our list is not necessarily a state without a law.
So the question for any board, in any state, is the same:
What does our state law say right now, and has it overridden a rule already sitting in our documents?
That is a question for the association's attorney, and it's worth answering before adopting a new sign rule or enforcing an old one.
Related HOATalk Topics:
HOA Board denying residents first amendment rights
Flag flying
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________________________________________Sources: [Fla. Stat. 720.304](https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/720.304); [Fla. Stat. 718.113](https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/718.113); [Tex. Prop. Code 202.009](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.202.htm); [Md. Real Prop. 11B-111.2](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/Statute_Web/grp/11B-111.2.pdf); [Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-1808](https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01808.htm); [Cal. Civ. Code 4710](https://california.public.law/codes/ca_civ_code_section_4710); [N.C.G.S. 47F-3-121](https://codes.findlaw.com/nc/chapter-47f-north-carolina-planned-community-act/nc-gen-st-sect-47f-3-121/); [Nev. Rev. Stat. 116.325](https://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/chapter-116/statute-116-325/); [Colorado Division of Real Estate](https://dre.colorado.gov/division-notifications/political-signs-and-hoas) on C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.5; [Wash. Rev. Code 64.90.510](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.90.510); *Mazdabrook Commons Homeowners' Ass'n v. Khan*, 210 N.J. 482 (2012).