Winners revealed in ‘I Voted Early’ sticker contest

You know those old, standard “I Voted” stickers that are included with ballots mailed to voters so it makes them feel special for participating in the democratic process. 

Well, Merced County voters are in for a special treat in the upcoming 2026 election cycle. 

This year, for the first time ever, Merced County Elections held a contest to design custom (and more modern) “I Voted Early” stickers that are truly unique to this region. The idea was to involve young Merced County students — 1st through 5th grade — to take part in the contest as a way to get them involved in the today’s election process and introduce them to our democratic system of government. 

“I am happy to report that we received hundreds of submissions from schoolkids across the county,” said Mel Levey, the Registrar of Voters, during Tuesday night’s Board of Supervisors meeting. “In many cases, teachers would bring in submissions for their entire class.” 

The sticker designs were reviewed by the Elections Department to ensure that they met the qualifications. They even had California Secretary of State, Dr. Shirley Weber, review them during a recent visit to Merced.

“She was greatly impressed by the creativity of Merced County’s children and excited to see younger generations learning about elections,” Levey said. 

In mid-November, a decision panel was convened to choose the contest winners. In keeping with the theme of educating the students of Merced County about elections, Amy Taylor, the Merced County librarian and Dr. Susan Walsh, the president of the League of Women Voters of Merced County, joined Levey and Regan McGuire, the assistant registrar of voters, to determine the winning designs. 

From among the hundreds of submissions, one student from each supervisorial district in the county was chosen. During next year’s elections, voters will receive the sticker that was designed by the winning student from the district that they live in. In addition, posters with the sticker logos will be displayed at the Vote Center nearest to the winning student’s school. 

And The Winners Are:

• District 1 — Esmeralda, a student in Mrs. Russell’s class at Campus Park Elementary. 

• District 2 — Avika, a student in Ms. Avila’s class at Luther Burbank Elementary. 

• District 3 — Genesis, a student in Mrs. Sargis’ class at Franklin Elementary.

• District 4 — Eamon, a student in Ms. Fisk’s class at Washington Elementary.

• District 5 — Danica, a student in Mrs. Silva’s class at Our Lady of Fatima School. 

“All of these designs, though very different from one another, showcase creativity and patriotism and will serve as unique and meaningful displays of participation for our voters next year,” Levey said.

In addition to having the voters in their districts receive their stickers during elections next year, the students were awarded with a bag of prizes from the Elections Department and a Certificate of Achievement.