The Cape Girardeau County Clerk’s Office has announced the winner of their “I Voted” sticker design contest. From Sept. 1 through Oct. 31, all high school students in Cape Girardeau County were eligible to submit artwork for a new “I Voted” sticker for 2018/2019 elections in the county.
A panel of judges picked four finalists, who were then voted on by the public with an online survey. Lydia Riehn of Jackson High School came up with the winning design, and Emily Landewe and Kourtney Ruggeri of Delta High School were the runners up.
The contest was part of the County Clerk’s Office’s efforts to boost the interest of high school students in the voting process.
In a previous interview with KRCU, supervisor of elections, Allen Seabaugh said they were contacted during last fall’s presidential election by a Jackson R-2 school district teacher who got her students interested by putting a creative and educational twist on the “I Voted” sticker.
“She was getting her students excited about the upcoming election, and they were actually collecting “I Voted” stickers from different counties or election jurisdictions around the United States, and put those in a collage,” said Seabaugh.
County Clerk Kara Clark Summers thanked all students who submitted designs, and congratulated the winners and runners up.
“We hope the contest inspired students to become active in elections and voting when they reach voting age,” said Summers in a press release.