Editing Lawn sign (section)

==Political importance==
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| image1            = Vote Leave - geograph.org.uk - 5002468.jpg
| image2            = Mayor Pete at Roosevelt High School (48891217236).jpg
| footer            = Top: [[Vote Leave]] signs during 2016 UK referendum on EU membership. Bottom: Signs supporting [[Pete Buttigieg]] for the [[2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries]]
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Political scientist Mel Kahn states that lawn signs help build name recognition for candidates. Supposedly, each sign represents 6–10 votes for the candidate.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/wsunews/news/?nid=423|title=WSU PODCAST: Why political yard signs matter|date=19 November 2008|work=Wichita State News|access-date=13 August 2010}}</ref> However, veteran political organizers hate the task of handing out yard signs, because they believe that time spent on procuring and distributing yard signs could be better used on other voter registration and [[get out the vote]] operations.  One randomized field trial found yard signs simply reminding people to vote were able to significantly increase overall voter turnout.<ref>{{cite news|website=[[NPR|National Public Radio]]|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/03/10/148351027/how-powerful-is-a-political-yard-sign|title=How Powerful Is A Political Yard Sign?|date=12 March 2012|access-date=14 August 2023}}</ref> A 2016 study found that lawn signs raise vote shares by slightly more than 1 percentage point and are "on par with other low-tech campaign tactics such as direct mail that generate ... effects that tend to be small in magnitude".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/elections/election-lawn-sign-campaign-votes/|title=Do election lawn signs generate votes? New research|date=25 March 2016|author-first=Lauren|author-last=Leatherby|website=[[The Journalist's Resource]]|language=en-US|access-date=14 August 2023}}</ref>

In addition, it gives the requester a [[placebo effect]] of doing something substantive, while not actually volunteering to help their candidate.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/breaking-obama-campaign-organizers.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922195416/http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/breaking-obama-campaign-organizers.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 September 2008|title=BREAKING: Obama Campaign Organizers Trying To Win Election Instead of Get You Yard Signs|last=Quinn|first=Sean|date=21 September 2008|work=[[FiveThirtyEight.com]]|access-date=13 August 2010}}</ref> Critics charge that "lawn signs don't vote" and dismiss their importance.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wallace|first=Lane|title=The Popularity and Irrelevance of Our Lawn Sign Wars|newspaper=[[The Atlantic]]|date=3 November 2012|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/the-popularity-and-irrelevance-of-our-lawn-sign-wars/264488/|access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref> Theft of lawn signs is treated like any other instance of [[petty theft]], however, signs on the rights of way in many states are considered litter and can be picked up by anyone as a public service. On several occasions, citizens who removed lawn signs on the pretext of cleaning up the clutter and eliminating driver distraction were arrested, sparking a public controversy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://macon.com/2012/04/29/2008101/illegal-signs-along-bibb-county.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503200259/http://www.macon.com/2012/04/29/2008101/illegal-signs-along-bibb-county.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 May 2012|title=Illegal signs along Bibb County roadsides land woman in controversy|website=[[The Telegraph (Macon, Georgia)]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macon.com/2012/07/07/2087731/warner-robins-resident-arrested.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711055242/http://www.macon.com/2012/07/07/2087731/warner-robins-resident-arrested.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 July 2012|title=Warner Robins resident arrested for trashing signs in right of way|website=[[The Telegraph (Macon, Georgia)]]}}</ref>

In 2010, the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported on a then-new type of yard sign designed for improved effectiveness by being cut into shapes or people to deliver a political message. The article suggested that such signs could expose 25,000 drivers per day to messages at a low cost.<ref>{{cite web |title=In Campaigns, Entrepreneurs Get Busy|website=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208210624/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703467004575464161144773800|archive-date=2022-12-08|url-status=live|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703467004575464161144773800|access-date=14 August 2023|author-first=Sarah|author-last=E. Needleman|date=2 September 2010}}</ref>