# Early Voting and “I Voted” Stickers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 8, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274 "2024-05-08T18:24:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/21 "2024-05-09T02:10:53Z")
Oh, and I’ve looked into mail-in voting here, but here in NC that requires two witnesses or a notary public to observe me marking the ballot, then signing the sealed envelope. I also need to include a photocopy of my ID with the ballot when I mail it. It’s all part of the Republican policy of making mail-in voting as difficult as possible, under the presumption that Democrats are more likely to vote by mail. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/22 "2024-05-09T04:23:30Z")
I’m busy as an Election Judge on Election Day, so I always vote early. Since I’m usually at my own poll, I could vote there. But we are encouraged not to do so, just to avoid anyone saying that they saw election workers filling out ballots. I used to do mail-in voting, but now the Post Office is so unreliable, I go to the early voting site (often I’m there for added election judge training). Minnesota offers all mail-in voting in much of the state, but doesn’t allow it in the big city areas that vote Democratic (guess what party passed this), ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/23 "2024-05-09T04:34:26Z")
I took advantage of early voting to vote over the weekend when I was in law school. It needed to be over the weekend because I was registered to vote in and a resident of Texas, but attending law school in Michigan. That’s one hell of a drive to do between Contract Law on Friday afternoon and Civ Pro Monday morning, you know. But it’s the only way to do it. Anyway, that started a tradition of putting the “I voted” sticker on the dashboard of my car. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/24 "2024-05-09T11:22:38Z")
We don’t have early voting in the UK, other than postal voting. You used to have to give a reason for wanting to vote by post, but now it’s more or less on request. It’s also standard practice for polling stations to be as conveniently located as possible, so somewhere central within each polling district (which is a subset of the ward/constituency). In my case, it’s the school on the way to the shop where I buy my newspaper, so it’s the first thing I do on election day - a different sort of early voting. And we don’t get stickers. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/25 "2024-05-09T11:26:34Z")
I almost always vote at the advance polls in Ontario; it’s just more convenient for me to vote on a weekend. As noted by Northern\_Piper, I don’t think stickers are a thing in Canada (at least not anywhere that I’ve lived). > **[Ways to Vote](https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=vote&document=index&lang=e#advance)** > > Ways to vote in a federal election in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/26 "2024-05-09T11:30:18Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > that started a tradition of putting the “I voted” sticker on the dashboard of my car. I put my “I Voted” sticker on our bird’s plexiglass travel cage. The sticker lasts until the next election then gets replaced. Once they ran out of stickers. I was sad. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/27 "2024-05-09T11:31:41Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Do you ever take and or save the “I voted” sticker they offer, if they offer them where you are. Yes, but I don’t do it because I want to say, “Hey, look at me!” I do it to promote voting, period. I put it on the lower left side of my rear window, and I put it outside so it weathers away after a month or so. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/28 "2024-05-09T12:50:37Z")
Hello, fellow election worker. One of my chief judges came around and asked us if we had had a chance to vote. Since we only checked in about 400 voters over 13 hours, there was plenty of time for us to cast our own ballots. An appearance of impropriety didn’t appear to be a concern. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/29 "2024-05-09T13:17:19Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Saves me half a day or more of taking off work to stand in line. I have no doubt that is correct, and though I know this is would not be unusual state of affairs, I am incredulous. And this is likely a precinct where they are not actively discouraging you to vote. I have so far voted on the day (which is always a Saturday here). There are pre-poll, postal and mobile booth options available. There are at least four walk-in polling stations within 10-15 minutes walk. The closest is the public school which is 150m from door to ballot. If you time the ballot run well you can make a cup of coffee, go to vote and get back before the coffee goes cold. We get most of the results by a couple of hours after polls close and it’s all done with pencil and paper. Up to 40% of Australians vote early. But we don’t get stickers. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/30 "2024-05-09T13:25:20Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > I have no doubt that is correct, and though I know this is would not be unusual state of affairs, I am incredulous. And this is likely a precinct where they are not actively discouraging you to vote. > > I have so far voted on the day (which is always a Saturday here). There are pre-poll, postal and mobile booth options available. There are at least four walk-in polling stations within 10-15 minutes walk. Except for voting on a Sunday, this matches my experience. Advance polls may be a bit more distant, since there aren’t so many of them, but on the day of the main vote, I’ve always been able to walk to the poll, vote and then walk home. It’s never taken very long. Now, I live in a Big City (big by Sask standards). If I lived out in the country, I would have to drive into town to vote, but “town” here could be quite small. Any town with a Legion Hall, a church basement, a school gym, or a community centre, could be a poll. Heck, one advance poll that I went to in my home town was in the local hardware store. I walked to it. The longest it’s ever taken me to vote was when the federal election roll didn’t have me on it, after I moved to a new house. Two or three elections went by and they didn’t properly update their rolls. So I had to swear myself in to get my ballot. Took a bit longer. But we don’t get a Democracy sausage. \< sad sniff \> ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/31 "2024-05-09T13:28:42Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > But we don’t get a Democracy sausage. \< sad sniff \> A frozen sausage might not be that enticing. :d&r: ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/32 "2024-05-09T14:21:26Z")
Early and mail-in voting are available here, but I would never use either method unless I was sickly or something. I enjoy going to the polls. There’s a festive atmosphere. I’ve only had to stand in a long line once. There must have been a local hot topic we were voting on. I just stop in on my way to work and am in and out within 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/33 "2024-05-09T14:22:06Z")
Oh, and I always take the sticker and put it on my purse for the day. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/34 "2024-05-09T14:40:32Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I’ve only had to stand in a long line once. I’ve never had any kind of wait when voting in person. I try to arrive just as they are opening, but I’ve never been voter number one. I guess the women who are working (they are always women, usually in their 70s) vote right away. I’ve been number three once, always lower than number ten. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/35 "2024-05-09T14:53:08Z")
I always vote by mail in Ohio. I get a sticker in the envelope maybe 25% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/36 "2024-05-09T18:26:27Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > > [@DorkVader](#): > > > > Saves me half a day or more of taking off work to stand in line. > > I have no doubt that is correct, and though I know this is would not be unusual state of affairs, I am incredulous. And this is likely a precinct where they are not actively discouraging you to vote. > > I have so far voted on the day (which is always a Saturday here). There are pre-poll, postal and mobile booth options available. There are at least four walk-in polling stations within 10-15 minutes walk. The closest is the public school which is 150m from door to ballot. If you time the ballot run well you can make a cup of coffee, go to vote and get back before the coffee goes cold. We get most of the results by a couple of hours after polls close and it’s all done with pencil and paper. Up to 40% of Australians vote early. But we don’t get stickers. For me a good sized chunk of the time is actually travel time to or from my place of work in combination with my schedule. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/37 "2024-05-09T20:18:05Z")
I’m in Washington, too. I drop our ballots a few days before, whenever I get around to filing mine out, and hold onto the sticker and wear that the day of. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/38 "2024-05-09T20:35:05Z")
Another Washingtonian here. I love voting and miss in-person voting and waiting in lines. I know it’s cheesy, but I got a thrill from voting in person and seeing people lining up to vote. Until last year, we didn’t get I Voted stickers here, so I made my own. My most recent sticker is on my front door. In Wyoming, I displayed my sticker all year, either on my dashboard or the whiteboard in my classroom. After I retired in 2016, some of my students sent me photos of their I Voted stickers on their dashboards, backpacks, etc… 🙂 I vote on election day and walk to a drop box rather than mailing it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/39 "2024-05-09T20:45:48Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Except for voting on a Sunday, this matches my experience. > > Advance polls may be a bit more distant, since there aren’t so many of them, but on the day of the main vote, I’ve always been able to walk to the poll, vote and then walk home. It’s never taken very long. My experience too. Last time we had a federal election, the advance polls were at the YMCA, about two miles away, and there were about three or four of them on different days. But on election day itself, the polls are handy: they will either be at the church around the corner, or at the school across the park. Both are an easy walk. I’ve lived in both Alberta and Ontario, and there are no stickers in either place. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274/40 "2024-05-10T19:46:54Z")
We early voted a few days ago. I don’t take the sticker. For one thing, I’m actually a little apprehensive displaying anything political, as I live in a very red county. We used to put up signs but they always got stolen within a day or two. Ms. Napier put an Obama bumper sticker on her car and several days later was run off the road by a pickup truck containing rifles and screaming men. And I’ve become accustomed to seeing Trump hats and tee-shirts in our polling place even though I understand that’s supposed to be prohibited. I will keep voting and donating unless perhaps elections change to the extent that the act of voting only serves to pretend our leaders were democratically elected, but I’m really not comfortable with any kind of political statement in public, even just “I voted”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-voting-and-i-voted-stickers/1001274.md?page=3)