The San Luis Obispo County Elections Office announced Sept. 12 the winners of its inaugural “I Voted” sticker design contest: third grader Melanie Rathbun from Old Mission School and senior Joanna Rawlings from San Luis Obispo High School.
“I feel like sometimes living in SLO, you get acclimatized to this little bubble of local news [and] you forget you’re a part of something much greater,” Rawlings said. “I wanted to reflect that in my design.”
Rathbun’s design depicts a bald eagle perched on an American flag atop a bell with the words, “Liberty, Freedom, and Justice” lining the top.
“I wanted to include elements of patriotism, while also including local elements,” Rawlings said. “I have the bald eagle, stars, stripes for America as a whole. I also have the seven sisters in the foreground of the sticker.”
The contest, which ran from July 3 to Aug. 21, invited students in grades 3-12 to submit designs.
The mayors of seven San Luis Obispo County cities judged the artists’ entries anonymously. Each design had to follow a set of guidelines, such as including the words, “I Voted” or “Future Voter,” while using original artwork.
San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano congratulated both winners in-person on Sept. 12. Meanwhile, Rathbun’s peers celebrated her at Old Mission School, while Rawlings was surrounded by her high school’s office staff.
While Rawlings is not eligible to vote yet, she is involved in her high school’s political clubs, such as the Harvard Model Congress and Model U.N. club.
“You can’t create an ‘I Voted’ sticker without knowing exactly what you’re doing,” Cano said. “In these grade levels, they’re aware enough to know that there is an election going on. I wanted them to feel a part of the process.”
Georgia Brown Elementary School fifth grader, Rudd Larson, was given an honorable mention for his design. Larson was the very first entry submitted.
There will be 15,000 copies of each sticker design located at the San Luis Obispo and Atascadero elections offices beginning Oct. 7, according to a press release from the County Clerk-Recorder Office.
All three sticker designs will also be available at polling locations on Election Day, Nov. 5.
Correction: This article has been updated at 2:25 p.m. to correct a misspelled name and word.