After last week’s primary election there were winners and losers. The winners move on, the rest clean up and state law says they have to do it quickly.

Campaign signs in Phoenix (Photo by Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez - KJZZ)

By September 12 political candidates not moving on to the general election must remove their campaign signs from the public rights of way.

A state law says candidates have 15 days after an election to remove them, but there’s no penalty if they don’t. Often time signs are not removed by deadline, so city staff canvas the streets and remove them.

Several Valley cities say it’s less costly to just remove them than go through a process of creating a fine system.

Erin Andres is with the City of Phoenix Department of Planning and Development. "I have sign inspectors, and they’re out doing inspections on other signs and right now doing other illegal sign enforcement," Andres said. "So while they’re out they’re gonna be looking for these signs and just take them out, take them down where ever they’re at?"

Andres says the signs are recycled. Cities like Glendale and Mesa also remove the signs and discard them. Tempe holds them for 120 days so that they can be picked up—then they’re destroyed.