The famous “I Voted” sticker has become part of the voting process. It all started with a sketch on a dining room table 37 years ago.
Janet Boudreau of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was the mastermind the sticker design. In a recent interview with AARP, Boudreau explained that she thought of the design in 1987 shortly after purchasing an election supply business from her father for $1.
At the time, the company only had three products, but soon she changed things up. She created a lineup of 1,000 products including ballot boxes and security seals.
But it turned out, it was one of her first five ideas she came up with that took off, the “I Voted” sticker. Boudreau said by 2000, her company was selling more than 100 million stickers in every midterm and general election year.
Boudreau’s wasn’t the first “I Voted” sticker. She recalled seeing a black-and-white design before she eventually drew her own. And hers was certainly not the last.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wore a werewolf sticker design on her shirt as she gave election updates Monday, Nov. 4.
The werewolf sticker was created by a 12-year-old named Jane. Her design garnered the most votes in a contest with more than 20,000 statewide among the nearly 60,000 votes cast.
Boudreau told The Associated Press she is all for the younger generation creating new “I Voted” stickers and understanding the power of voting.
Boudreau sold her company in 2015, but she still is able to see her finest creation every time she goes to the voting booth. She told AARP, “Grown adults enjoy getting stickers. That just makes me happy.”
