Those white “I voted” stickers people received at the polls Tuesday have an apparent tie to real estate.
The Phoenix Association of Realtors® claims they came up with the idea for the non-partisan stickers in 1985, according to WKYC.com in Milwaukee. At the time, association President Skip Rimsza and the operations director hoped to spark greater voter interest in a real estate-related bond issue on the ballot – a proposal to expand the freeway system.
Association officials thought up the idea to pass out “I voted” stickers to inspire greater voter turnout.
“We were absolutely the first ones in the country,” Rimsza insisted in a 2006 story in The Arizona Republic. “Back in 1985-86, I went to the national Realtors convention, and no one had heard of any stickers in their communities.”
Since then, the stickers have caught on nationwide. Some states have tweaked the design: In Georgia, stickers now come in the shape of a peach and read: “I’m a Georgia voter.”
In 1987, Janet Boudreau with Independent Tabulation Corp., now known as Intab, had copyrighted the sticker design with the waving American flag. At the time, the stickers had not yet been marketed across the country.
“I was looking for products that would have broad appeal no matter what level of government you were on,” Boudreau says. “I wanted a mass-appeal product and wanted a mass-appeal image. … I had no idea that it would take off the way it did.”
The company now sells millions of stickers a year.
“No matter what your party affiliation or politics are, we can all take pride in participating and having a say in what happens.”
Source: “Just Who Thought Up ‘I Voted’ Stickers?” WKYC.com (Nov. 4, 2016)
