“Don’t forget your ‘I voted’ sticker,” poll workers cajoled on Nov. 3. As I initialed ballots alongside retired minister Mark Ward-Bopp, he smiled affably and quipped, “Shame your co-workers and friends that didn’t vote.”
“Oh yeah,” most said while sliding the sticker off the table. Some voters asked if their son or daughter could have one. Of course, we gestured. We had two rolls, replenished by the League of Women Voters. Record early voting depleted supplies, leading at least one poll worker to offer her saved sticker to a disappointed voter who’d just cast a ballot.
Voters prize the stickers and show off on social media with selfies declaring, “I voted.” They take them with a judiciousness that shows they are proud of democracy. On Nov. 3, many voters waited to take a sticker until their ballot was secured in the voting box.
Running out of stickers created a mini-crisis leading up to election day. Karyn Douglas noted that many treat them like a prize for voting.
“Voters are over the moon to have them. They go on social media to say ‘I voted’ but they don’t have the sticker, it doesn’t have the same POW!” When Douglass wasn’t sure that new stickers would arrive in time, she and her staff found pictures of the sticker and printed selfie posters to hang up.
Voting stickers may seem like icing on the real prize, which is your vote, as Douglass notes, they serve democracy in multiple forms. First, they signal to fellow adults that we’ve participated in one of the seminal responsibilities of democracy. In a year when COVID raised concerns and prompted thousands to vote early, the stickers signalled to neighbors they still had a chance to participate in this right and responsibility. Thousands of people across the country stuck their two word declaration on their chests for the day, like one sees the ashes on certain foreheads on one Wednesday a year. Others placed them on their mask, right over their mouth, as if to say the breath of democracy is in this act. With early turnouts in Montgomery county at almost 55% of registered voters, and final turnouts at 69% of registered voters, it seemed to signify that everyone could find a time to show up and have a say in our leadership. No more armchair commentary, we all played. The selfies we witnessed on celebrities and friends all over indicated the trend stretched across the nation.
Because the stickers not only encourage others to vote, but for some voters, those are the “proof” that leaving work for a longer break is part of completing one’s civic duty. For some workers, ducking over to a polling place, risking a line, and making an educated call on who should be a judge, a clerk, a council person, mayor, coroner, governor, representative, and, yes, president, may create a conflict at work. What if a supervisor questions why a worker took a 45-minute or longer break? That sticker backs up the action. It says, “I showed up for democracy.”
Like Karen Douglas, I’m not one for selfies. I used to ask why the sticker mattered so much. This year, I cheered every selfie with a “Yo Voté” or “I Voted” sticker affixed to a chest, a purse, or a mask. I think it’s healthy peer pressure where we encourage our friends to participate in what protects our democracy. Let’s celebrate that we endured the months and years of campaigning without giving up. Let’s celebrate the work of educating ourselves and sometimes making the best call to support a candidate who may not be perfect but will represent us most closely. I do really like Douglass’ idea of the selfie poster also, which she quickly had made for each polling station. She says she’ll keep hanging those up. It’s all part of what encourages, empowers, and enables average citizens like us to be an active part of our democracy.
The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan, multi-issue organization encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase public understanding of major policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. All men and women are invited to join the LWV where hands-on work to safeguard democracy leads to civic improvement. For information about the League, visit the website www.lwvmontco.org or voice mail 765-361-2136.
