Teri Vance: Students to design ‘I Voted’ stickers for primary

Voters in Carson City will soon be able perform their civic duty while also scoring a piece of limited-edition artwork.

The Carson City Department of Arts & Culture is joining with the Carson City Clerk-Recorder’s Office to host a competition to design a new “I Voted” sticker.

The competition is open to students grades 9-12 enrolled in any high school in Carson City.

“We thought it would be really cool to have something custom created for Carson City voters by future voters,” said Carson City’s Arts & Culture Coordinator Mark Salinas. “This is a great opportunity for these students to see they can participate in their community at any age.”

Two winners will be selected, and each awarded $100.

“We are excited to see the creativity of Carson City students and how they express themselves with this topic,” Carson City Clerk-Recorder Aubrey Rowlatt said in a press release. “We feel this is an opportunity to engage the youth and to have them play a large role in the upcoming elections. Everyone loves ‘I Voted’ stickers.”

The two designs will be featured on the 14,000 stickers distributed at the polling places inside the Carson City Community Center and the Carson City Courthouse during early voting for the primary election, May 23-June 5, as well as on primary election day June 9.

“A young artist is going to have their artwork made into 7,000 stickers for the general public to wear,” Salinas said. “That’s significant.”

Winners will be selected by a panel made up of Rowlatt and Salinas; Miguel Camacho, chief deputy clerk; Mylo McCormick and Chris Leyva, Carson City cultural commissioners; and Jennifer A. Russell, public information officer for the Office of Nevada Secretary of State Barbara K. Cegavske.

Salinas cited a recent study conducted by Americans for the Arts that found people who are involved in the arts are 20% more likely to vote.

He said the contest will encourage participants themselves to vote as well as the community at large.

“We are overjoyed to create an opportunity which engages future voters through a cross-pollination of civics and visual arts,” he said.

The deadline for entries is April 20. For entry forms and complete guidelines, go to carson.org/ac.

The program could also be used as a template for other ways to blend the arts and government.

“You know how the old adage goes,” Salinas said, “you can’t spell ‘bipartisan’ without ‘art.’”