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- In 1987, Janet Boudreau, the owner of Intab, an election supply company, created the original “I Voted” sticker.
- This design quickly gained popularity; Intab now produces over 100 million stickers annually.
- Recently, several states have initiated contests for unique “I Voted” sticker designs with surprising outcomes.
When Janet Boudreau visits her local polling station to cast her vote and receive a traditional “I Voted” sticker adorned with an American flag, few realize that she played a pivotal role in making these stickers commonplace.
The concept of “I Voted” stickers first appeared in a 1982 article from the Miami Herald discussing discounts for customers displaying them. However, it wasn’t until 1987 that these stickers became widely available when Boudreau took over her father’s Seattle-based election supply business, Intab. As she sought to broaden the company’s product range, she envisioned creating colorful stickers to distribute at voting locations nationwide.
“‘I Voted’ stickers were virtually nonexistent,” Boudreau recalled. “The only ones I encountered were black-and-white versions featuring either a check mark or an X—definitely not inspiring.”
Boudreau crafted a vibrant design showcasing the phrase “I Voted,” accompanied by a waving American flag—a symbol of civic engagement and responsibility. This creation soon became one of Intab’s top-selling items. By 2012 alone, they had sold more than 100 million stickers across all U.S. states and territories.
Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
Boudreau sold Intab in 2015 and now mentors aspiring entrepreneurs on business growth strategies. While her iconic American flag designs remain prevalent in many election offices across the country, some regions have started hosting design competitions aimed at school-aged children to engage them in democratic participation.
The results can be quite unexpected; for instance, Hudson Rowan—a 14-year-old—designed Ulster County’s “I Voted” sticker in New York for the year 2022 featuring a quirky face with bloodshot eyes atop a spider’s body. In Michigan’s upcoming elections for 2024, Jane Hynous—a talented twelve-year-old—submitted a winning design depicting a werewolf dramatically tearing off its shirt against an American flag backdrop; this amusing artwork caught Vice President Kamala Harris’s attention during her visit to Pontiac as seen in footage shared on social media platform X.
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Boudreau appreciates this wave of creativity among young designers:
“The more diverse ideas we see from kids is fantastic! If they start recognizing the significance of voting early on—that’s wonderful!”
