Recently, vibrant purple “Nobody 2016” stickers have been popping up all over campus, advertising an alternative to the current presidential candidates. The “Nobody for president” notion has been around for a while, with merchandise selling on the internet as far back as 2012.
The recent purple sticker phenomenon on CU and CSU campuses started in August when two students, Matthew Nagashima and Daniel Kwolkoski, at CSU and CU respectively, thought that a vote for nobody would be better than a vote for Trump or Clinton.
The two scrambled to print up stickers, make t-shirts and design a website before the start of the fall semester. Since then, they’ve worked with friends to distribute stickers and sell t-shirts on both campuses.
Although the name speaks for itself, Nagashima and Kwolkoski’s website for Nobody 2016 goes into greater detail about the campaign’s goals. Under the slogan, “Make America Ours Again,” an obvious jab at the Trump campaign, the website calls Clinton a Sith Lord and suggests that Trump eats “deep fried puppy meat.”
“Elect America’s last hope – Nobody – into the White House,” the site reads.
“It started out as a joke and grew from there,” Nagashima said. “But it was influenced by the fact that we don’t feel represented by either of the candidates.”
Nagashima mentioned that many of his friends and colleagues agreed with his opinion of the election.
While voting for nobody may seem like an extreme idea, Nobody 2016 is not actually urging members of the public to give up their vote. According to Nagashima, the movement’s main goal is to inform people of the dangers of electing Trump or Clinton.
“People should not be forced to choose a candidate they don’t believe in,” Nagashima said. “That isn’t how democracy should work.”
He also suggested alternatives to voting for Nobody, such as making use of the write-in ballot option or doing thorough research on the Trump and Clinton campaigns.
Although their take on “Nobody 2016” is a relatively new operation, the group has plans to increase their efforts as the election approaches. Nagashima said he would love to organize some rallies once the presidential debates get under way.
While the campaign’s presence on campus has received positive feedback from some students, others find the excessive posters and stickers inappropriate.
The CU Independent received an email tip from a CU student claiming the stickers were vandalizing property and affecting the scenery of Boulder.
Nagashima, on the other hand, was surprised by the amount of support the campaign has received from friends and strangers alike.
“People have been all about it,” he said. “Even some of my friends’ parents bought stickers.”
As for after the election, Nagashima said Nobody 2016 could still function as a platform for political protests if Trump or Clinton becomes president.
“One of them will probably get elected,” he said. “We just want to get the word out that voting for the lesser of two evils is still evil.”
Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Eliza Radeka at Eliza.Radeka@colorado.edu.
