Election candidates in Penticton have had their signs up for a few days now, and many appear to be following new guidelines laid out earlier this year for where they can be placed.

In May, city council passed a bylaw to allow election signs to be put up in only 13 public spaces. Candidates can use up to sixteen square feet at each location.

"You need some regulation for signage usually. And the reason is you can get what people refer to as signage pollution. And it just becomes everywhere and it looks a little bit like chaos," Laurie Darcus said, the city's chief election officer.

On Wednesday, bylaw members removed several signs from in front of the Senior’s Drop-in Centre on South Main Street, after a complaint was issued.

It's one of the allowed locations, but the signs taken down impeded sight lines for drivers.

"When you're entering or exiting a driveway, you want to make sure there's the ability to have no obstructions in your way. There were quite a few signs that were past those points where we mapped out, and we didn't want to have any accidents or anything," bylaw services supervisor Tina Siebert said.

When signs are removed after a complaint, Siebert said they're taken to the public works yard and candidates are notified to go pick them up.

In Penticton there’s six mayoral candidates and 25 for council — more than any other Okanagan municipality — and another seven candidates for school trustees.

Given the sheer volume of candidates, city staff say it’s important to have regulations in place and make sure election signage isn’t a free for all.

"I think especially given that there is quite a few candidates, it's probably better than years prior. So we're on the right track for that," Siebert said.