Political signs a relic of the past?

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - If you're driving down the road, you may see only a handful of political signs for an entire block, and that's even rare.

Even though we are four weeks away from the election, political officials say there are a couple reasons why there are fewer signs this year.

"There are a lot of uncontested races on the ballot, and if there’s an uncontested race why put the efforts in, so a lot of candidates are happy to not have competition, so they aren’t going through the trouble of putting yard signs up," said Andrew Downs, the director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics.

Also, according to an ordinance in the Fort Wayne City Code, campaign signs can't be placed on city property.

"Since in the city of Fort Wayne, it’s illegal to put the signs in the right of way, candidates have to go out and find voters who are willing to put that sign in their yard, and that takes a lot more work," Downs said.

However, some campaigns are just using a different type of strategy.

"They’ve kind of waited until a more appropriate time, as we get closer to the election instead of leaving them out for many, many weeks," said Dennis Sprunger, a candidate for Allen County Council At-Large.

An Indiana Republican campaign manager said yard signs are a "relic of the past," and campaigning has moved more online and to social media sites, but others disagree.

"Fort Wayne is a place where, typically, if you don’t put out yard signs, people can’t believe that your campaign is real," Downs said.

If you would like to get signs for your yard, you can pick them up at the Allen County Democratic Headquarters on the South Side of the city or the Republican headquarters downtown.