Campaign sign disclaimers in Minnesota: what the law requires

What a campaign disclaimer is, and why Minnesota requires one

A disclaimer is the line of small type that tells a voter who paid for the piece in their hand. Minnesota puts the requirement in Minn. Stat. 211B.04, and what it covers is broad: campaign material means any literature, publication, or material disseminated for the purpose of influencing voting at a primary or other election, apart from news items and editorial comment by the news media. That sweeps in far more than mailers.

Leaving the disclaimer off material that needs one is a misdemeanor under the statute. In practice, though, the thing that actually costs you is cheaper and more annoying than a prosecutor — we get to it at the end.

First, plainly: this page is not legal advice. We design campaign material and print it. We do not practice election law and we are not your lawyer. What follows reflects research current as of 15 July 2026. This corner of Minnesota law was rewritten two months ago and shifts again on 1 January 2027, so confirm anything you are about to print with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board at cfb.mn.gov, the Office of the Revisor of Statutes at revisor.mn.gov, or your own counsel. We can set type. We cannot tell you what the law requires of you.

The wording changed in May 2026 — and the statute page may still show the old text

Minn. Stat. 211B.04 was substantially rewritten by the 2026 Legislature, and our research found the new text in force since 19 May 2026. Here is the part that makes this page necessary: the research found that the Revisor's own public statute page may still display the pre-amendment text, carrying only a banner noting the section was affected by 2026 legislation. Look the statute up today and you can carefully copy the wrong wording. The Board's one-page disclaimer handouts, updated in late June 2026, were the current sources the research identified; its longer handbook and the Secretary of State's campaign manual both predate the change.

The biggest shift: the old two-form structure is gone. Minnesota used to have one form for a principal campaign committee and a different one for everyone else. There is now a single unified form. The current wording, per the research:

• Non-broadcast campaign material

  “Prepared and paid for by (name of entity), (address).”

• Broadcast media

  “Paid for by (name of entity).”

• Broadcast, produced at no cost

  “The (name of entity) is responsible for the content of this message.”

• Produced and disseminated at no cost

  The statute says the words “paid for” may be omitted. Read literally, that yields “Prepared and by…” — nonsense. The Board's current handout describes dropping “and paid for,” giving “Prepared by (name of entity), (address).” If that is your situation, call and ask.

Elements, not magic words — and what counts as the address

Take a breath. The statute asks for a disclaimer substantially in the form provided. That is the actual test, and it is about elements rather than an incantation. The elements: the name of the entity causing the material to be prepared or disseminated, the address, the model attribution phrase, and prominent placement on the piece. A comma out of place is not going to sink you.

That said, substantial compliance is a defense, not a design strategy. Use the model wording. The Board's own material describes the law as very specific about the words to use — which tells you how the question gets approached in practice, even though the statute reads more loosely than that.

The address element is more flexible than most people know. For campaign material, the research found three options:

• A mailing address

  “Prepared and paid for by Friends of Jane Doe, 123 Main St, Ada, MN 56510.”

• An actively monitored email address

  “Prepared and paid for by Friends of Jane Doe, [email protected].” New in 2026. What “actively monitored” means is not defined anywhere the research could find.

• A website

  “Prepared and paid for by Friends of Jane Doe, ElectJaneDoe.org.” — but only if the site itself shows the entity's mailing address or email address. A bare URL over a site with no contact information does not satisfy it.

One asymmetry worth knowing: for independent expenditure material the research found only two address options — a mailing address, or a qualifying website. A standalone email is not on that list.

Do yard signs need a disclaimer in Minnesota? Yes

Direct answer, because this is the thing people actually search: yard signs are not exempt. They appear nowhere in the exemption list, and the Board affirmatively names yard signs as campaign material that needs a disclaimer. Door hangers, push cards, and mailed postcards are not exempt either.

What the statute does exempt:

• Items distributed by the candidate

  Fundraising tickets, business cards, personal letters, or similar items clearly being distributed by the candidate. “Business cards” means the candidate's actual business card — not a palm card.

• Small items

  Bumper stickers, pins, buttons, pens, or similar small items on which the disclaimer cannot be conveniently printed.

• Impracticable displays

  Skywriting, wearing apparel, or other means of display where including a disclaimer would be impracticable.

• Linked online ads

  Online banner ads and similar electronic communications that link directly to a page that includes the disclaimer.

Notice what is missing: a size threshold. There is no number. The test is qualitative — “cannot be conveniently printed,” “would be impracticable” — anchored by those named small items. Anyone quoting you a square-inch cutoff invented it.

And drop this one if you are still carrying it: before 2015 there was an exemption for objects stating only the candidate's name and the office sought. It was deleted. A sign carrying nothing but a name and an office is no longer exempt on that basis. Separately, do not confuse any of this with the noncommercial sign statute, which governs when and where signs may be posted rather than what is printed on them — that is our Minnesota political sign rules guide.

Local races, school board seats, and ballot questions

Yes, it reaches local. Chapter 211B defines candidate to expressly include local office — special districts, school districts, towns, home rule charter and statutory cities, and counties. A school board seat is covered like any other.

Now the exemption almost nobody mentions, and it matters most to exactly the people reading this. The statute does not apply to an individual or association that is not required to register or report under chapter 10A or 211A. The disclaimer duty tracks registration status. The research found the local-candidate reporting trigger at more than $750 received or disbursed in a calendar year, and the ballot-question registration trigger at more than $5,000. A neighbor printing a dozen signs out of their own pocket, with no registration obligation, sits outside the statute entirely. That is a deliberate accommodation, not a loophole — but whether it covers you is a question for the Board or your counsel, not for your printer.

Ballot questions carry their own trap. The “not coordinated with or approved by any candidate” sentence belongs on independent expenditure material, and in Minnesota an independent expenditure concerns candidates only. There is no such thing as a ballot-question independent expenditure. A levy or referendum committee uses the general form. Putting the non-coordination line on a referendum mailer is not merely unnecessary — it is nonsense. Our ballot question campaigns guide goes further.

Type size and contrast: what applies now, and what starts 1 January 2027

This is the most useful practical thing on this page, and the piece most likely to bite this cycle.

In force now, since 19 May 2026. For written communications other than an outdoor sign, a website, or a social media page, the disclaimer must be printed in 8-point type or larger and provided in black text, or in color text that is in high contrast, on a white background. Read that last part twice. The white background is new. A disclaimer reversed out in white type along the bottom of a navy postcard — completely ordinary practice in 2024 — is arguably not compliant today. If you are reprinting a piece from a past cycle, go look at the bottom of it right now. Note also that “high contrast” carries no numeric standard anywhere the research could find, so nobody can hand you a ratio to hit.

Signs, from 1 January 2027. New rules key disclaimer size to sign size: 12-point or larger below two feet by three feet; at least one inch tall from two feet by three feet up to four feet by eight feet; at least six inches tall above that. Two things get garbled. First, 1 January 2027 is not the amendment's effective date — it is when those paragraphs start applying. Second, they apply to signs printed on or after that date; signs printed before it that miss the sizes may continue to be used afterward and are expressly not a violation. The Board encourages 2026 buyers to comply. Encouraged is not required — an election yard sign run printed this year is not bound by those sizes.

The trap almost nobody has caught: lobbying signs run on a different clock

The 2026 session also created a separate statute, 10A.067, covering disclaimers on lobbying material — a paid advertisement urging members of the public to contact public or local officials to influence a legislative or administrative action, or the official action of a political subdivision. Think of the sign telling neighbors to call their council member about an ordinance. That is not candidate material and not a ballot question. It is its own category.

Per the research, it requires the name of the principal responsible for the content of the advertisement, plus either a phone number, an actively monitored email address, or a website address that can be used to contact the principal. Material already carrying a 211B.04 disclaimer is exempt, as are the small items listed in 211B.04's exemptions.

Here is the trap. 10A.067 carries the same size rules but no 1 January 2027 grandfather clause. The research found them in force today. So a three-foot by five-foot grassroots lobbying sign printed this week already needs a disclaimer at least one inch tall, while an otherwise identical candidate yard sign does not until 2027. Same coroplast, different rule. The Board may impose a civil penalty of up to $3,000 on a principal that fails to provide the required disclaimer. If your sign asks people to call an official rather than to vote for someone, ask the Board which statute you are under before it prints.

Who enforces it, and what happens if you get it wrong

Two forums, and which one you land in depends on who you are. Complaints alleging violations of chapters 211A and 211B generally go to the Office of Administrative Hearings. Complaints concerning the entities defined under chapter 10A — candidates, treasurers, principal campaign committees, political committees, political funds, and party units as that chapter defines them — go to the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. For most local races around Wright County — school board, city council, county — the research points to OAH as the usual forum. Nobody registers with OAH; it is a complaint venue, not a registrar.

On the OAH process, the research found: a complaint must be in writing and under oath, there is a $50 filing fee, there is a one-year limitations period, and the complainant carries the burden by a preponderance of the evidence. A panel of three administrative law judges may dismiss the complaint, issue a reprimand, impose a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for a violation of chapter 211A or 211B, or refer the matter to the county attorney. The underlying offense in 211B.04 is a misdemeanor, which in Minnesota carries up to 90 days, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

None of which is the expensive part.

Why the disclaimer is the most expensive line on the page

The expensive part is the reprint. Every other mistake on a campaign piece has a workaround. Wrong phone number? Sticker. Photo a shade dark? Live with it. A missing or non-compliant disclaimer has exactly one remedy, and it is running the whole job again — the 2,000 postcards, the 500 signs, the entire door hanger drop — on a calendar that does not move. The state primary is 11 August 2026 and the general election is 3 November 2026. Neither waits for your second press run.

So treat it as a design element, not a checkbox you tick at the end:

• Put it in the file at the design stage

  A disclaimer added last minute is a disclaimer squeezed into whatever space is left — which is how it ends up tiny and reversed out over a photo.

• Build a white field for it

  Since the current rule wants black or high-contrast color text on a white background for written material, the cleanest answer is a white bar designed into the layout from the start.

• Make it legible at the piece's viewing distance

  Legal-minimum type and readable type are not the same thing on a sign read from a moving car.

• Send us the approved string, not an approximation

  Paste the exact line your committee or counsel signed off on. We set it as given. We print what you approve — the disclaimer is the campaign's call, not ours.

Our free campaign disclaimer generator assembles the model wording; it cannot tell you whether you need one. The campaign literature guide covers the rest of the piece, and political campaigns covers what we produce. Tell us your deadline and we will build the run around your calendar.

Frequently asked questions

• Do yard signs need a disclaimer in Minnesota?

  Yes, on the research behind this page. Yard signs are not in Minn. Stat. 211B.04's exemption list, and the Campaign Finance Board names yard signs as campaign material that needs a disclaimer. The one broad exemption covers individuals or associations not required to register or report under chapter 10A or 211A. Confirm your own status with the Board — this is not legal advice.

• What is the required wording for a Minnesota campaign disclaimer?

  For non-broadcast campaign material, the research found one unified form in force since 19 May 2026: "Prepared and paid for by (name of entity), (address)." The old separate form for principal campaign committees is gone. Broadcast material uses "Paid for by (name of entity)." The statute asks for a disclaimer substantially in that form — elements rather than magic words — but use the model wording anyway.

• Can I use my website instead of a mailing address?

  Only conditionally. The research found three permitted address options for campaign material: the entity's mailing address, an actively monitored email address, or the entity's website — but the website counts only if the site itself displays the mailing address or email address. A bare URL over a site with no contact information does not satisfy the element. Independent expenditure material has narrower options.

• Do bumper stickers and buttons need a disclaimer?

  No. Bumper stickers, pins, buttons, pens, and similar small items on which the disclaimer cannot be conveniently printed are expressly exempt, as is wearing apparel. There is no size threshold in the statute — the test is qualitative, turning on whether printing a disclaimer is inconvenient or impracticable. Do not rely on a square-inch cutoff you read somewhere; the law does not contain one.

• Does a school levy committee need the "not coordinated with any candidate" sentence?

  No. That sentence belongs on independent expenditure material, and in Minnesota an independent expenditure concerns candidates only — there is no ballot-question independent expenditure. A levy or referendum committee uses the general form: "Prepared and paid for by (name of entity), (address)." Adding the non-coordination line to a referendum mailer is unnecessary and does not make sense.