Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown responds to signs opposing his re-election
The leader of the Mahoning County Board of Elections is calling it the election of the sign battle.
"I've never seen so many signs in my life for each individual candidate, it's really different this year," Joyce Kale-Pesta said, director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
The November 2 election is just two weeks away and the candidates for Youngstown mayor are in the final stretch of their campaigns.
21 News spotted signs throughout the city, including Marshall and Market Street, where signs that read "Anybody but Tito for mayor" were placed by roadways.
The signs do not explain who is behind the message, which is typically required by Ohio Campaign Finance guidelines.
"You have to have who paid for the sign, and who is responsible for the language on the sign," Pesta explained. "You have to have 'paid for by or the committee for'."
Anyone attempting to influence an election who spends over $1,000 on campaign signage must include a disclaimer on the sign that says who paid for it.
Other campaign items like buttons, badges, clothing and smaller campaign swag are exempt from the disclaimer requirement.
21 News Political Analyst Bill Binning says disclaimers ensure transparency for voters and accountability in what can become contentious election cycles.
"It's just information for the public, so that they can use that as part of their judgement about the campaign or the candidate and usually it's an obligation on the candidate," Binning said.
If a candidate doesn't like it, then they could take appropriate actions to deny the claims or decide to sue.
21 News reached out to Mayor Brown on Tuesday, who was unaware of the signs.
Brown says the lack of a disclaimer only shows the person behind them has no courage to confront him personally, he thought the signs were humorous and is focusing on his re-election campaign.