Mark your ballot. Turn it in. Take a sticker!

Most voters across the United States get a sticker after casting their ballots. The images tell friends and neighbors “I Voted.” 

Janet Boudreau is a sticker designer. She created one of the most popular voting stickers. It’s a white oval featuring a rippling American flag. 

Now she has competition. New versions pop up around the country. Children design many of them! Ms. Boudreau doesn’t mind. “I’m all for younger people getting involved and understanding the power of voting,” she says.

Last year, New Hampshire held a sticker design contest. It was open to fourth graders. Ten-year-old Grace was one of the winners. She felt like a celebrity when she visited the polls for the presidential primary in January and town elections in March.

“[People] seemed happier and more excited to vote because they’d get a cool sticker,” she says.

More than 1,000 fourth-graders submitted entries. Grace’s design features the state’s fallen but not forgotten Old Man of the Mountain rock formation.

Grace settled on her design quickly. But 11-year-old Rilynn drafted three versions. She had family members vote on their favorite. The winner? A moose standing on a ledge. It overlooks colorful fall leaves and the state’s highest mountain.

She was also excited to see her stickers in action.

“They had a huge pile of stickers and people were literally picking out my sticker,” Rilynn says. “By the time my dad got there, he didn’t get one.”

Grown-ups design stickers too. A contest in San Francisco was open to adults and college students. The winning sticker included flowers, birds, a seal, and the Golden Gate Bridge. It also featured the words “I Voted” in multiple languages.

Allison Tichenor picked up that sticker when she voted last week. She wears it to remind others to cast their ballots.