Who pays for the stickers "I voted" on polling day?

They are worn by millions of Americans every election day. They honored Susan B. Anthony's grave to honor its impact. And images of them are probably filling your social media feeds right now.

"I Voted" stickers – whose size, design and shape vary depending on where you vote – are of some importance to Americans every election day, as they become a sign of After the vote of the voters.

But who pays for the "I Voted" stickers?

Well, it's complicated. The "I Voted" sticker you are wearing has most likely been paid for by the state or county in which you voted – which funds the general election with the help of taxpayers. But that varies from place to place, with some jurisdictions choosing to invest more in their stickers and others by ending their use.

Local jurisdictions – such as counties, cities, or townships – typically hold the show on polling day and pay most of the costs such as printing ballot papers, staffing the polling stations. Voting and dissemination of voter information, among others, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a non-partisan organization. "I Voted" stickers are probably "one of the costs borne by local election officials," says Wendy Underhill, director of the election and restructuring of the team.

I Voted stickers date back to the early 1980s and have since been part of the voting process. Nowadays, businesses and restaurants offer incentives to customers wearing "I Voted" stickers on polling day, such as free food and products. (To be clear, it is in fact illegal to offer such incentives to electors who participate in a federal election.) Stickers can serve as sentimental memories of an important election – or the evidence you need to show to your friends that you have participated.

Perhaps most importantly for election officials, "I Voted" stickers could be considered an investment to promote voter turnout. After all, research conducted in May 2016 revealed that voters value the ability to "talk to others" about their voting habits and are therefore more likely to go to the polls. The "I voted" sticker can therefore be seen as an immediate symbol of this commitment – and many voters who voted in the mid-term elections of 2018 and in the past have expressed their dissatisfaction with the shortage of stickers. at the polls.

"The idea is to encourage electoral participation by reminding the people that it is polling day through the I Voted sticker, as well as peer pressure because voting is considered a duty. and civic responsibility, "says David Lublin, government professor at the American University.

However, we do not know how much these stickers cost on average. In 2012, according to Mic, the stickers could cost a total of $ 34 million, that is, if 230 million voters all receive a sticker worth about 15 cents. This is a disproportionate estimate, as some 126 million voters were elected in 2012 and not all voters received a sticker. Even determining the total cost of a state election on the other turns out to be complicated, as funding sources change depending on the type of election that it's taking. ; about.

Whatever the case may be, some countries have chosen not to distribute stickers because of their cost, especially for postal ballots. In 2012, the Registrar of Electors of Santa Clara County in Santa Clara, California, reported saving $ 90,750 by choosing not to include a 15-cent sticker in postal ballots. Election officials in Long Island, NY, have chosen not to buy stickers at all this year due to budget constraints, Newsday reported. Stickers were also annoying in some cities, where they were often stuck to corporate or public park surfaces. Instead of the stickers, Chicago voters now have bracelets, which cost the Electoral Council about $ 28,000, or 2 cents each.

Other countries have actively invested energy in their stickers. New York City, for example, is now organizing a design competition to determine its election day sticker. The New York City Campaign Finance Board, an independent body that oversees the New York Votes initiative, pays and prints the stickers each year and gives them free of charge to the state election office. For the 2018 semesters, the agency has printed 6 million stickers.

"People love these stickers," said Matt Sollars, public relations director of the New York campaign's finance council. "People love to show their friends, family and the world that they have fulfilled their civic duty and gone to vote."