The “ I Voted ” spine , which you ’ve no doubt insure attached to C of shirt around the rural area and on social media duringelection season , has become a way for a person to demonstrate evidence of having done their civil obligation — and a not - so - subtle prompt to advance others to do the same .
It ’s a simple , concise subject matter . But the pedigree of this exercise , as well as the person or persons who innovated it , are n’t quite so clear .
One of the earliest mention of the “ I Voted ” sticker appeared in the October 27 , 1950 edition of theMiami Herald , whichmade noteof a motility to boost line of work to give time off to employees so that they could vote on a bond subject for a $ 6 million local infirmary expansion . The article went on to cover that “ I Have Voted ” gummed label would be handed out at the canvass “ as a monitor to others to shed their right to vote . ” account of stickers beinghanded out in regional areaswere prevalent throughout the 1950s , 1960s , and 1970s .
According toTIME , theMiami Heraldwas the informant of yet another early mention of the “ I Voted ” sticker when , in 1982 , the paper noted that commercial enterprise in Fort Lauderdale , Florida , wereoffering discountsto customers boast the label . They were alsodistributedto teachers unions in 1984 . That same year , incumbent Vice PresidentGeorge H.W. Bushflaunted an “ I vote Today — Have You ? ” pricker in Houston when he vote in the presidential election .
Who Really Popularized Those “I Voted” Stickers?
In 1985 , the Phoenix Board of Realtors ( now the Phoenix Association of Realtors)organizedthe distribution of the spikelet in Phoenix and Maricopa county in Arizona in 1985 . Why did Realtors deal ? In Phoenix , a bond proceeds on the voting would have allowed for expansion of the thruway system , which would have a positive gist on country property values .
The board ’s then - president ( and future Phoenix city manager ) Skip Rimsza and operations director Dennis M. Burkecreated the sticker , which read “ I Voted Today , ” as a direction of increasing elector activity . The hope was that people vote in the morning and wearing the sticker would urge others to vote during the difference of the day .
The stickers became more prominent in 1986 , when National Campaign Supply start selling them .
The most familiar version of the “ I Voted ” sticker , with a flag blowing in the wind , can be trace toJanet Boudreau , who create the design while working for another election - supply company , Intab , in 1987 . That design was thencopyrighted .
The stickers grew in popularity as a way to endorsevotingand help recall it to the public human activity it had been in the nineteenth century , where voting was much a societal gathering and ballot were give off in full view of bunch . Today , showing off your political engagement cost local governments around 1 cent per poser .
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A version of this level was originally publish in 2020 and has been updated for 2024 .
