Lake Elsinore, CA Sign Regulations: Political Signs (2026)

LEMC § 17.196.120 treats political signs as a category of noncommercial sign under § 17.196.080, which allows them anywhere a commercial sign is allowed and bars the City from reviewing or approving their message content. The 90-day posting window runs from the election the sign concerns, and every political sign, win or lose, must come down within seven days after that election; there is no separate limit tied to a candidate filing deadline or a specific district. Two location bans apply regardless of timing: no political sign may go in the street right-of-way, defined to include median islands, tract entry planters, treewells and parkways, or be attached to a traffic-control sign or a private or public utility pole, and none may be posted on any City-owned building or land.

Because political signs are treated as noncommercial signs, § 17.196.100(H) specifically carves them out of the City's general ban on off-site advertising and billboards, so a yard sign supporting a candidate in one location is not barred as off-site advertising the way a commercial billboard would be. The chapter's general sign-permit machinery still backs the rule: § 17.196.050 lets the Building Division issue a stop order against any sign installed in violation of the title.