Woman raises cash online to buy “I Voted” stickers for her city

Medford residents will now receive “I Voted!” stickers when they leave the polls this November, thanks to a new resident and her efforts to raise money for themon Kickstarter.

Kristin Cantu said she was voting in this year’s presidential primary when she asked a poll worker for the sticker and was surprised to hear the city didn’t distribute them. She was accustomed to getting the stickers in the other communities where she’s voted, she said.

“I asked around about it, and no one ever remembered getting stickers” at the polls in Medford, she said.

After a search for the cheapest option online—and running the idea by a local Facebook group—Cantu felt there was enough interest to start a Kickstartercampaign to come up with the cash for buy the stickers for Medford.

Her goal was to raise $600 in order to buy the cheapest spools she could find on Amazon. Another volunteer managed to find an even cheaper roll for sale on Ebay earlier this week, prompting Cantu to close the fundraiser early after raising $385.

The amount was enough to buy 40,000 stickers, she said, many more than the number of registered voters in the city.

“It seems like a lot, but I know people come in with their kids to pick up stickers, and it also gets your kids involved and excited about voting,” she said.

Cantu said she feels the stickers are important part of the voting process.

“The stickers really resonated with me because I’ve always been one of those people who just really believes it’s important to vote,” she said. “And stickers, for a lot of people, are a fun way to show civic pride, that I care about what’s going on in our community, whether locally or nationally, and I really believe wearing the stickers does help remind people to go out and vote if they haven’t already.”

At least a handful of residents seem to agree, with 21 donors contributing about $15 to $25 each.

“It’s stupid how excited I was to see this!” one user commented after making a donation. “I want this sticker!”