The archive · Public & Social · Marketing decision · 2025
Jeffco scents its 'I Voted' sticker — scratch-and-sniff democracy lifts turnout
Jefferson County let students choose the scent for a limited-edition scratch-and-sniff 'I Voted' sticker that drew voters to Vote Centers in 2025.
Jefferson County Clerk & Recorder (Colorado)
What it had to solve
Colorado votes largely by mail, so a county needed a reason for people to visit Vote Centers for a small 2025 odd-year election. The Clerk & Recorder's Office also wanted the campaign to double as youth engagement, not just a voter reminder.
How it works
In Colorado, voting is mostly done by mail, so an odd-year local election in 2025 faced the quiet risk of being ignored. Jefferson County's Clerk & Recorder's Office wanted to revive excitement around the ritual itself and turned to one of the most nostalgic objects in American voting: the 'I Voted' sticker.
The idea was to make that sticker something voters had to come and get. Students voted on scent swatches to define the winning fragrance — a sweet, spicy, outdoorsy blend called the smell of democracy — and the office printed the nation's first scratch-and-sniff 'I Voted' sticker. The bilingual design, I Voted! ¡Yo Voté!, showed a ballot drop box surrounded by Colorado wildflowers beneath a rising sun, with the tagline 'I love the smell of democracy in the morning.' The stickers were only available in person at Vote Centers from October 27 to November 4, 2025.
The sensory twist worked as both turnout tool and civic lesson: Jefferson County recorded the state's highest ballot return rate, boosted in-person participation, drew national media attention, and won the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's 2025 Clearinghouse Award for Creative and Original 'I Voted' Stickers. What began as a youth engagement exercise ended up changing what a voting memento could be.
Why it lands
- Scent engages a sense elections never use, making the moment of voting physically memorable rather than merely symbolic.
- Students chose the fragrance, so the campaign doubled as hands-on civic education and gave the final sticker a story to tell.
- Making the sticker available only in person turned a passive memento into a reason to visit a Vote Center.
- The bilingual design widened the invitation, and the nostalgia tagline gave older voters a joke to share.
What it did
Jefferson County recorded the state's highest ballot return rate and successfully boosted in-person turnout; the scent became a community conversation starter and drew national media attention. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission named it the 2025 national winner for Creative and Original 'I Voted' Stickers.
What you can take
Give a routine civic act a collectible sensory reward you can only get in person: scarcity turns a chore into a reason to show up, and letting students choose the scent made the ritual partly theirs.
Since then
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission's Clearinghouse Awards featured the sticker as the 2025 national winner in the Creative and Original 'I Voted' Stickers category, and the county continued the design-contest tradition for later elections. The campaign showed election offices that a well-designed ritual object can pull people into democratic participation without a single partisan message.
Sources
- 2025 Winner for Creative and Original 'I Voted' Stickers — The Sweet Smell of Democracy
- Jefferson County Introduces Scratch 'n' Sniff 'I Voted' Stickers for Upcoming Election
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