Will NJ be butthurt by no ‘I Voted’ stickers?

I live, and so I vote, in Hunterdon County. Here, polling places on Election Day historically tend to have those little oval ‘I Voted’ stickers to hand out. Not every county or municipality does, however.

I have seen mature, intelligent adults get peeved about this. I never quite understood it.

Do folks want these stickers as props for social media photos? Do they want to wear it all day on their clothing as some form of virtue signaling? Does their vote count for less in their mind if they can’t offer proof?

First of all, it’s not proof. While it would be a bit insane to do this, anyone can go on Amazon and buy a roll of 500 of these for around ten bucks. Second, aren’t you looking a little desperate for attention by wearing these ‘I Voted’ stickers? Asking for a friend.

A few years ago, hardly any were given out because of the pandemic. Then, when they came back, some polling places wouldn’t give them for sanitary reasons, while others did offer them but had a bottle of hand sanitizer next to them.

Greg Sarafan made a mission out of getting ‘I Voted’ stickers to people across the country who felt put off by not receiving their rightful sticker at their polling place. He started mailing them to people in 2017.

“I think what people get from the ‘I Voted’ sticker is they feel pride in it. It’s a badge of honor for a lot of people. Sometimes, voting is the only civic engagement a citizen might have. Some people go to city hall meetings all the time or send letters to their senators, but for most people, voting is the only direct interaction they have with government officials besides maybe the DMV,” Sarafan said.

While it seems obvious to me that we should be voting to keep this country from sliding off a cliff into fiery ruins, others feel it’s a photo op. I suppose if a virtue signaling sticker reminds others that it’s Election Day who would have otherwise forgotten, then maybe they serve a small purpose.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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