"I Voted" Stickers Get The Pick

As Americans head to the polls today in 13 states and American Samoa for the Super Tuesday primary, a ubiquitous promotional product is front and center at most polling locations. The red, white and blue adhesive-backed “I Voted” sticker is a feel-good freebie many voters like to pick up and wear as a badge of honor. The sticker, along with its vintage companion, the political campaign button, has been around for decades and has become an iconic symbol of American politics.

In some communities the stickers will actually get wearers more than a feel-good vibe. Customers wearing an “I Voted” sticker in Richmond, Virginia today will get a discount at a number of local restaurants and shops, according to a story in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch.

While interest in the stickers waned for a time, it came back strong during the narrow Bush-Gore race in 2000 when votes were so close that an official winner wasn’t decided until after a 36-day Florida recount. The sticker’s popularity has stuck with Americans who want to show their support, not necessarily for a particular candidate but for the freedom that lets them exercise their democratic right to vote.

Carl Gerlach, MAS, director of marketing at Gill Studios, Inc., knows the stickers well.  “We do hundreds of thousands of the “I Voted Stickers” in an even numbered political year but these are ordered regionally so we don't get all the business,” he says. “I wish twice the total number of stickers were ordered—not for more business for Gill but because we need twice the number of voters going to vote on election day!”