Cast your vote. Get a sticker. It’s how every election works, but during this year’s presidential primaries, Oakland County is breaking away from the simple but traditional “I voted” ovals to more modern designs created by two local students.
Last summer, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, Oakland County Clerk, Lisa Brown and Oakland Schools launched the “I Voted” Sticker Contest. This contest called for local students in grades 6-12 to design and submit stickers that celebrate the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage, which was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920.
The contest received more than 600 entries, which were separated into two categories — grades 6-8 and 9-12. Then, a panel of judges reviewed the entries based on creativity, artistic skill, execution and interpretation of themes.
Penelope Blanchard, a ninth-grade student at Walled Lake Western High School, and Charlisa Penzak, a sixth grader from Birmingham Covington Schools, were selected the winners of the contest in their age categories for designs that depicted diversity of women and the importance of women’s votes.
Both winners won a $1,000 courtesy from Cornerstone Community Financial Credit Union, while the teachers that sponsored the winning designs won $250 for their classrooms.In addition, both Blanchard and Penzak’s designed stickers are being handed out to voters across Oakland County during the Michigan presidential primary election, on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and later this year in August.
