The Homa Files

Punch line: They’re everywhere on election day: “I Voted” stickers.

If almost everybody’s got one, it feels pointless to put one on your own sleeve.

But actually, the fact that everybody’s got one is the point.

* * * * *
Excerpted from The Atlantic’s, “Why the ‘I Voted’ Sticker Matters”

At a pure cost-benefit level, it’s hard to justify taking hours out of your day to cast a single vote.

And yet, we vote. We vote because we think it’s important.

We vote because we care about our country and our rights. We vote because it makes us feel good.

People like being seen having voted.

And that’s where the “I Voted” sticker comes in.

The “I Voted” sticker is a signal and an advertisement.

It binds people together … and reminds others to join the group.

Tens of millions of people will vote in every presidential election whether there are free stickers or free cookies.

But beyond these intrinsically interested voters are countless more citizens who need motivation to show up at the ballot box.

The “I Voted” sticker’s value — and its motivation — is purely social.

And to the extent that it might actually get some marginal Americans to the polls, it’s also priceless.

Edit by JDC

This entry was posted on November 16, 2012 at 1:40 pm and is filed under 2012 Campaign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.