SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A Sacramento cartoonist is rewarding early voters with custom trading cards while promoting the value of participating in democracy.
“They’re just little trading cards. They call them artist trading cards. And, what I’m kind of doing with them is just kind of rewarding early voters,” said Eben Burgoon, a Sacramento-based cartoonist.
Burgoon has created pieces inspired by famous artworks, including “Vote-a Lisa,” “Flaming June,” and “The Great Wave of Vertigo,” a reinterpretation of a classical Japanese painting.
When elections approach, Burgoon turns vote centers into his studio space.
“I think that’s one of the most beautiful parts about our democracy, is that there are these civic-minded folks who want to help. And I think right now, too, when you look at kind of some of the national discourse around elections, it’s the American people who really participate in making those things happen and happen safely, happen securely,” Burgoon said.
These creations began years ago during downtime at polling locations, a period poll workers know well.
“The reason I became an inspector and a clerk was there was a big call because a lot of people didn’t feel safe during COVID to come back out and help with elections,” Burgoon said.
He funds the trading cards himself, driven by his passion for elections.
“I pay all this out of my own pocket because I love the elections,” Burgoon said.
Burgoon shared a memorable story from a past election, emphasizing the democratic process.
“I have stories that are just really amazing. Like, the governor, when he came to vote a couple of elections ago in person, we had just checked a man in who was experiencing homelessness. And that man, we checked him in, we got him this ballot. The governor came in moments later, and he voted, and they voted at the same, literally at the same time. But their vote was in the same box, in the same bag,” Burgoon said.
“Their ballot was the same. And I think that democratizing force is just going to be better illustrated by that,” he added.
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