Four Cass County students’ designs win 'I Voted' sticker contest

CASS COUNTY, Mich. -- The Cass County Clerk/Register’s Office announced four high school artists were recognized during the Cass County Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday after their designs were selected as the favorites in the office's inaugural "I Voted" Sticker Design Contest.

Voters casting ballots in the August primary will now have their choice of four stickers to show off their civic participation.

“Since I’ve taken over as clerk/register, I have tried to get students involved in our elections,” said Clerk/Register Monica McMichael. “One thing I started a few years ago was training our high schoolers to work the elections, which we’ve continued this year. If you go to vote in your polling place, you will most likely see a 16 or a 17-year-old working in the polling place, which is fabulous.”

McMichael said she invited high school artists to submit sticker designs celebrating the voting process.

After sharing the idea for the contest with high schools in the county, three teachers, Courtney Dwyer of Dowagiac Union High School, Rebecca Yakel of Cassopolis/Ross Beatty High School, and Jeff Kozinski of Edwardsburg High School, helped collect submissions from their students.

McMichael stated there were over 70 submissions and Cass County has a lot of talent. Submissions were reviewed by county officials, and although the original plan was to select one winner, the judges each selected a different sticker as their favorite. So, McMichael opted to create stickers of all four.

The winning designs were created by:

• Emily Carlisle -- A 2024 graduate of Cassopolis/Ross Beatty High School studying at the University of Michigan beginning this fall
• Andrew Ernst-Kucsera -- a senior at Cassopolis/Ross Beatty High School
• Nola Payton -- a junior at Edwardsburg High School
• Brianna Nathan-Keck -- sophomore at Cassopolis/Ross Beatty High School

The artists were awarded a certificate and a sheet of stickers with the design they created.

Carlisle’s design depicts the county seal, with the words “I Voted” drawn three-dimensionally in the center.

“I’m really passionate about art and spent a lot of time in our art classroom at our high school,” said Carlisle. “Our art teacher, Ms. Yakel, came forward with this opportunity and I thought it would be a good way to increase voter registration, combine art, which I have a passion for, and be involved with my community.”

Ernst-Kucsera said he has participated in art contests before, including the Google Doodle contest where artists submit designs for its homepage.

Payton said she was excited for the challenge to create a design using the computer. Her design features a three-dimensional map of Michigan with a star marking Cass County, and items from the county seal, including an RV, a pig, and corn.

“I wanted to participate because it gave me an opportunity to try out digital art,” Payton said. “I normally do hand drawn art, and I thought it would be something fun to do and get me into doing art more.”

One winner, Nathan-Keck, was unable to attend the commissioners meeting, but was recognized for her sticker depicting the county seal and Michigan’s state bird, the robin, and state flower, the apple blossom.

Cass County’s next election is August 6, for the primary.

As a reminder, county officials say voters may only select candidates from one political party in the August election.

Voters unable to make it to the polls on Election Day may vote via absentee ballot, or in person at early voting, hosted from July 28 to August 4, at the Cass County Road Commission.

You can visit the Cass County website for more information.