Lizard Man, Elmo, Abraham Lincoln and more are on the ballot for a heated race to decide which Kentucky student’s “I Voted” sticker will be available during November’s election.
Kentuckians can vote for their favorite design at the Secretary of State’s Office’s booth during the Kentucky State Fair this week and next. Polls opened Thursday with the start of the fair in Louisville.
Drawings from eight finalists appear on the ballot from students across the state. Much like during Kentucky’s regular elections, voters may use a paper ballot to mark their choice and return it to a scanner.
Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams told the Lantern his office received “several hundred” submissions and he “spent an afternoon doing nothing but going through these.”
“We try to find ones that we think people will like. Obviously, we try to have a variety of representation around the state. … Creativity is a factor. A lot of kids just use AI, and that’s not interesting. We want to actually see kids with crayons,” Adams said.
Kentucky’s first “I Voted Sticker” contest was in 2024. Adams said the idea came from another design in another state’s contest going viral. In recent years, other states have announced a contest for students to submit designs for upcoming elections.
During the first Kentucky contest, a design from Fleming County student Cash Litzler featuring the Lizard Man, a Spiderman villain, got a lot of attention online. However, another design won that year. Cash is back with another iteration this year with “250,” a nod to the nation’s semiquincentennial.
Several of the students’ designs this year feature classic Kentucky elements — a cardinal dropping a ballot into a box, a very detailed drawing of the state seal, an outline of the commonwealth and a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln. Others capture the patriotic duty of voting by using the American flag and an eagle.
Two are hard to place in the aforementioned categories. Walden Fox, of Fayette County, submitted what looks like a yellow emoji face with “voting time” beneath it. Suzy Heichelbech, of Woodford County, embodies what many feel when looking at the current political state of the U.S. — a drawing of the meme with Elmo standing in front of fire with the words “I voted.”
Adams said he loves when a family comes to the booth to vote together. This election has no age restrictions, so any Kentuckian may vote. The adults tend to love the funny ones, like the green monsters and Elmo memes, but the kids are “super serious about this.” He attributed the votes of kids last year wanting “to present a good image of our state” to the winning sticker last year from Alyson Marinich, of Bluegrass Middle School in Hardin County.
Alyson, now in eighth grade, told the Lantern she entered the contest after hearing about it from one of her teachers. Her winning design — a portrait of her grandmother’s horse and a garland of roses — was available during the May primary to voters. Alyson and her family helped pass out stickers at a polling place in Hardin County. The experience “taught me the importance of voting,” she said.
“Just be creative,” Alyson said for students who want to enter a future contest. “Put whatever you want on that sticker that you want to design. Don’t be scared to do anything.”
Adams said his office’s state fair booth also shares information about other services, such as notary, but the sticker election gains the most interest.
“It’s really great to see people literally take time out of their day, stare at this poster thoughtfully, and make a decision,” Adams said. “That’s really encouraging.”
This article was originally published by the Kentucky Lantern.
