I Voted Stickers

Tuesday, November 6^th, 2012. Election Day. The first time I’m sure all of us as freshmen could vote in a presidential election, and the first time for most college students voting in a presidential election. Most of us who voted were proud to say we voted, and really excited to do it in the first place. We felt proud, mature, responsible, etc. We did our civic duty, and had our say in the future of our country. How do we show the world we voted, that we did our civic duty? With a sticker. A little tiny, red white and blue, ovalish, “I Voted” sticker. Everywhere I went yesterday, I saw the little white ovals. Rhetorical? I’d say so. Not only are they displaying that their wearer voted, but they are calling out to others to vote. If students hadn’t been planning on voting, they were constantly reminded by the stickers that they could vote, and that everybody else had. To be honest, I voted by absentee ballot, and didn’t get a sticker. I was really tempted to walk up and ask for one. I was thinking, I voted too. I want to announce it to the world! These stickers were persuasive just in the fact that they existed, and were so common. There’s power in numbers, and the amount of stickers yesterday was certainly powerful. I not only saw the stickers on other students’ clothes on campus, but on faceook, instagram, and social networking sites. These stickers were extremely rhetorical. While the design contributed, I can’t say it was the biggest factor for the rhetoric. It helped that the stickers used the national colors, and that there was an American flag on them, to remind everybody of their civic duty to their country. However, I really think the strongest rhetoric was in the idea that everybody was doing it, and that everybody was proud of it. Who knew such a little thing could mean so much?