Soldotna’s “I Voted” stickers are scheduled to get a makeover this year, courtesy of a new contest that gives Kenai Peninsula artists the chance to design them. Two weeks remain in the city’s first sticker design contest, which will put winning designs on the stickers given to city voters once they’ve cast their ballot.
Jordan Chilson sits on the Soldotna City Council. He sponsored the ordinance establishing the contest, which council members passed in February.
“My wife and I — we’ve always loved the art stickers that were available in previous state elections,” he said. “We were always kind of racing to see who could get what sticker — ‘Oh I got this one, you got that one,’ or ‘You missed out.’ And it was just kind of a fun thing.”
Chilson says he brought his young son to vote with him during the city’s last election, and wasn’t impressed with the available stickers.
“Not only did it not have art, it didn’t even say Soldotna on it, it was just very boring and kind of got me thinking, like, ‘Why can we do custom stickers that get people excited about local elections?’ Because we’ve really struggled with voter turnout and anything that we can do to kind of solicit additional interest in it would be great.”
Chilson is also interested in promoting the work of local artists. There is no shortage of talented artists on the Kenai Peninsula, he says, and the program is a way to spotlight some of their work.
“We have so many artists in the Soldotna area and I’m hoping that we use this as a tool to, kind of, bring them forward and get some new art out there that really highlights Soldotna and draws attention to it and, again, brings focus into the electoral process at a local level,” he said.
Getting the program approved by council members was only the first step, though. Next came implementation, which fell to City Clerk Johni Blankenship and Laura Rhyner, the assistant to the city manager.
Rhyner says the city surveyed other places that have implemented election sticker design contests to get inspiration while creating a program for Soldotna. The city is using the CaFÉ art submission platform to accept entries. That software, Rhyner says, was used by the Alaska State Council on the Arts for their 2023 license plate design contest.
“Like most things I think we do, we often look at examples from other municipalities because a lot of this stuff has been done before and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” she said.
Blankenship, whose office is tasked with administering the city’s elections, says the contest is about more than stickers.
“It’s like a badge of honor,” she said. “I’ve done my job, and now I get my sticker.”
One of the contest’s goals is to boost voter turnout in city elections, which Blankenship says tends to be low. The city can measure whether there’s a jump in turnout this year, and will rely on poll workers to report back about any “buzz” the stickers create among voters.
The contest is open to Kenai Peninsula residents and has separate categories for different age groups. The submission window opened on May 15 and is open until June 15. Stickers will be judged by a group of five panelists tasked with winnowing down all submissions to finalists. Then Soldotna residents will get to vote on winners in each age category.
Artists in the “Future Voter” category must be a student less than 13 years old and include the words “I Voted” or “Future Voter” in their design. The next, “Youth” category, has the same parameters, but is open to students less than 19 years old. The third, “Adult” category, is open to all other borough residents.
Designs must be original, nonpartisan and may not include any years or dates. Final stickers will include the city’s logo and designs may not interfere with its readability.
A group of five panelists will be tasked with winnowing down all submissions to finalists. Panelists will include Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, Rep. Justin Ruffridge, Soldotna Mayor Paul Whitney, Soldotna High School Art Teacher Chris Jenness and Cam Choy, an associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College. Soldotna residents will then select winners in each age category.
On June 5, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. the Soldotna Public Library is holding a design party as part of the city’s effort to promote the contest. The library will supply materials to attendees from all age groups.
Submissions for the “I Voted” sticker contest are due June 15. Entry forms and design templates for all age categories are available on the city’s website at soldotna.org.
Disclaimer: Laura Rhyner is a member of the KDLL board of directors.
