Unicoi County Democrats are calling a Tri-Cities town's political sign ordinance unconstitutional and that's not even their biggest concern. According to Erwin's Political Sign Ordinance, homeowners can only post one political sign per candidate in their yards. Democrats have a free speech issue with that law, but they're screaming foul for another reason.
"I think they're unfairly targeting the minority party," Unicoi County Democratic Party Chairman Mike Hampton said. "We feel they're doing it to suppress votes."
Just days ago, Barack Obama signs lined the front of Democratic Headquarters in Erwin. Now, most are gone. Friday, the town ordered Hampton to remove the duplicate signs. The town said he was in violation of the law.
"You can go right down the street 50 foot and there's duplicate signs of the Republican Party," Hampton said.
Just a handful of houses down the road, two John McCain signs sit in front of one home. However, Erwin Mayor "Brushy" Lewis says that's not on purpose.
"There is no treatment of the parties different whatsoever," Lewis said. "We would never do that."
Lewis, a Republican, says if you drove through town, you'd see double when it comes to Democratic signs as well. He says the town only enforces this ordinance when it receives complaints. In fact, the day before the town ordered Hampton to take down his signs, it gave the same order to the Republican Party, according to Lewis.
Unicoi County Republican Party Chairman Terry Haynes is still removing some illegal signs from other locations.
"We took them down the same day that we got the call to take them down," Haynes said of the signs at Republican Headquarters.
He says the town sent a clear message last week, if somebody complains about your signs, you have to get rid of them.
"We have to abide by the same laws they do, whether you're Democrat, Republican, or Independent," Haynes said.
Despite the complaints against the Republican Party, today, there are still two Phil Roe signs at Republican Headquarters, which is a violation of the town's ordinance. For that reason, the Democrats aren't convinced.
"It's obvious that one party is called to the rug on the ordinance and the other party is not," Hampton said.
Although Mayor Lewis disagrees, he is recommending the town hold a work session on October 13th to reexamine the law.
"I could see where it might need to be changed," Lewis said. "If it does, then we can change it."
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