An Ulster County, N.Y. teen created a graphic design for an “I Voted” sticker that accidentally captured the sorry state of American politics. Fourteen-year-old Hudson Rowan drew a ghastly technicolor man-spider with red eyes and a gaping grin, scrawled “I VOTED” on it, and entered it into the 2nd Annual Ulster Votes “I Voted” Sticker Contest. The bizarre image went viral, gathering enough votes to propel it into the finalist round of the contest. The winning design will adorn the lapel stickers handed to Ulster County voters after they cast their ballots on Nov. 8, 2022.
“The Ulster County Board of Elections said more than 168,000 votes have been cast in this year’s online contest to pick a new sticker, compared to only about 500 votes total in last year’s inaugural contest,” reports United Press International.
Have you voted? https://t.co/39l8iaisKT pic.twitter.com/N3kLgr5pWM
— Ulster County Government (@UlsterNY) July 5, 2022
“It’s a head with legs with colors,” remarked Rowan, with a “vibrant, psychedelic, happy, crazy theme.”
On the subject of traditional, red-white-and-blue political design, the young creator simply said, “I decided to do something different,” reports the Times Herald-Record.
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Opening up contests to public online voting has been known to lead to unsought and sometimes deeply unappreciated results. In 2014, the British government announced £150 million in funding for a 15,000-ton polar research vessel and, in a fit of ill-advised national pride, opened up naming rights to the general public. Professional publicist and former BBC staffer James Hand tweeted the suggestion “Boaty McBoatface” as a joke, but it went viral and dominated the poll within a day.
Boaty McBoatface was the decisive winner when the poll closed, but the governmental agency running the contest exercised its right to overrule the results and went with Sir David Attenborough for the ship’s name. It did, however, acknowledge the controversial decision by christening one of the vessel’s two submarines Boaty McBoatface.
The Boaty McBoatface saga happened because the irreverent name reflected the sentiment of a public grown weary of the endless, frivolous posturing and preening of the educated class — funded by the labors of the working class. In 2022 America, the unraveling political climate is fertile ground for young designer Rowan’s creation to resonate just as loudly. The Times Herald-Record quotes the Ulster County political leadership:
“Well I definitely thought it was unique,” John Quigley, the Republican commissioner for the Ulster County Board of Elections, which is running the contest, said about Hudson’s entry. “Somebody tweeted, this is how voters feel about politics right now, and I thought it was almost like the best way to summarize it. It sort of is exactly how we all feel about politics right now.”
“It’s gone a little viral,” said Ashley Dittus, Democratic commissioner for Board of Elections. “Hudson’s design has struck a chord with people, at least online, and we are really having a good time watching all those people from Ulster County, and all over the place, engage with our website, engage with our contest.”
Hey, if Rowan’s wacky design can bring together Republicans and Democrats and make them smile, and generate more interest in local civics, I’m all for it. As of this writing, Rowan’s entry is running away with the contest, with over 174,000 of the 186,200 (93%) votes cast for the six finalists.
The contest runs through the month of July.
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