We’re right in the thick of political silly season. By the time you’re reading this, results of the general primary election will be available.

There are three certainties in every election cycle: winners, losers and way too many campaign signs.

The idea of campaign signs isn’t anything new. It’s a relatively cheap and plausible way to promote election awareness and possibly gain a couple of votes. But am I the only one that’s noticed there are way more signs than usual this year?

On my commute from my home in Jasper County to The Covington News office 25 minutes away, I could probably count 300-400 political signs. My daily drive steers more toward the rural sides of each county. I can’t imagine what that count would be if I lived in the inner-city limits.

Around half of those signs are on private property and outside of homes. These signs I can get behind, as I don’t think we should dictate what can and can’t be placed on people’s personal property.

My issue is with signs littering public property. Recently, a gentleman posted a picture on Facebook of what appeared to be at least 50 signs outside of the Turner Lake voting precinct. Sure enough, the first thing you see as you go to cast your vote is a garden full of “vote for me” signs.

In my opinion, this is incredibly tacky. By the time I go to the polling precinct, I already have a good idea of who I’m voting for — and many probably are the same. Are we really gaining any deciding votes by having a garden of signs outside of a polling precinct?

Likewise, I don’t think having signs at every right-of-way in town is influencing any votes either. I honestly think it makes the town look like a giant billboard. As a political hopeful looking to serve the community, I would’ve hoped for some sort of self-awareness here.

Thankfully, at least one of those candidates does. I recently had a conversation with a political hopeful who also didn’t like the idea of placing campaign signs anywhere other than private property. To the best of my knowledge, that individual has followed through with their word. I hope more people follow their lead.

Another pet peeve of mine is having the political signs stay in public areas for months at a time after the election is over. I honestly view it as a lack of care for a community that you want to serve. Keep up with your signs or just don’t place them in public areas. Problem solved.

Covington Mayor Fleeta Baggett says that she wants to have an ordinance passed that would fine candidates who don’t pick up their signs within one week of the election. Baggett may be a controversial figure for some in the community, but I think she’s pretty dead on with this one. I hope the cities and the county can get something together on this.

So what are some alternatives to Signmageddon? After all, you’ve got to get the word out about yourself if you’re a political candidate. Here are some alternatives (in no particular order):

• Social media posts
• Social media ads
• Door-to-door campaigning
• Forum appearances
• Email newsletters
• Billboards
• Promotional videos
• Sign waving (at least this doesn’t litter public areas for long periods of time)
• Campaign events/rallies
• Media appearances/interviews
• Media advertisements (OK, I’m a bit biased to this one, but I digress)

And if you still really want those signs… then place them on private property with permission from the owner.

I truly hope our political hopefuls will heed this advice in future election cycles. Consider this as a sign to do better.

Evan Newton is the managing editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.