Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. reminds campaign workers that posting election signs on power poles is illegal and can cause injuries to linemen.

PP&L workers can be hurt seriously if their climbing hooks strike a nail, tack or staple that a campaigner has hammered into a pole. The unwanted hardware also could tear the rubber equipment worn to protect linemen from electrical shock.

Even if string or tape were used to put up a sign or poster, utility reference marks could be obscured. Those marks are important during rain or ice storms.

Fastening signs to utility poles in any fashion -- even if nails, tacks or staples are not used -- is prohibited by local law in many communities, and violators are subject to penalties provided by those laws.

In addition, Section 6905 of the Pennsylvania Crime Code defines it as a "summary offense" to drive a nail or tack -- or to attach any metal or hard substance -- to any public-utility pole.