NewsLocal NewsElections Local

Actions

Voters refuse to take campaign signs down despite city order

Posted at 6:55 PM, Nov 12, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-17 09:22:22-05

CORRECTION: The Cape Coral resident interviewed in this story was cited for having a sign beyond the city's size limit of four square feet and for exceeding the city's limit of up to three lawn signs. Presidential signs are allowed year-round. City election signs must come down three days post-election.

CAPE CORAL, Fla — People living on Country Club Blvd and 32nd Street in Cape Coral say the presidential election is not over, and they’re showing it by keeping their Trump Pence lawn signs up despite city orders to take them down.

Kirk Schaub has eight Trump Pence signs in his front yard. He says he’s already been cited by code enforcement to take them down. But, he has no plans to. He says the city can go ahead and bill him now for it.

Schaub stood proudly in front of one of those signs Thursday afternoon. The City of Cape Coral requires homeowners to take down city election signage three days after the election. Schaub said his signs are here to stay indefinitely.

“Until the election is over,” he said.

Despite Joe Biden having 290 electoral votes and President Donald Trump having 217, President Trump tweeted, “We will win” on Tuesday.

Schaub says he believes President Trump is still in the running to lead the country for the next four years; claiming only in-person ballots should’ve counted in the election.

“Valid votes are the only thing that should count. Mail-in ballots, all that stuff, should not be counted,” he said.

When asked about supervisors of elections in most states allowing absentee ballots even before the pandemic, Schaub responded with the President's lawsuits to throw out those ballots.

“Well, we’ll let the United States Constitution decide that one, and the United States Supreme Court,” he said.

The president has filed several lawsuits in several battleground states to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win. Schaub's neighbors also stand behind him. Three of the four corners at Schaub’s intersection still have Trump Pence signs and local election signs up.

The City of Cape Coral says code enforcement has noticed 36 locations throughout the city that still have local campaign signs posted. They say most people complied after a warning. They say a judge could decide what will happen next to those who refuse to take the signs down.

If you live in unincorporated Lee County, Fort Myers Beach or Bonita springs, you have until ten days after the election to take political signs down. That deadline is Friday.