DOWNTOWN — Chicagoans can be trusted to vote — but they apparently can’t be trusted when it comes to “I Voted!” stickers.
That’s why when you head to the polls this Election Day (or during early voting), you’ll get a wristband instead of the stickers that are famous in other locales.
The wristbands are white with red and blue words that say, “I VOTED! DID YOU?” They were new in 2016; for years before that, Chicagoans didn’t get anything after voting besides a slip of paper — reportedly because too many polling places got sick of voters putting the stickers on their walls.
The wristbands “worked in 2016, and we’re sticking with what works,” said a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. “We went a decade without anything, so we’re sticking with what works.”
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Other areas that once had stickers are now “following our lead,” the spokesman said, noting Louisville, Kentucky, switched to wristbands for this election.
“We’re trendsetters,” he said.
The wristbands have proven popular on social media, where people post photos of them to show off that they’ve voted and to encourage others to head to the polls.
“We love it,” the spokesman said. “Raise that fist in pride.”
Election Day is Tuesday and you can vote early through Nov. 5.
Here’s a look at the wristbands:
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