West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner announced Wednesday that Reese Childers, an eighth grader at Shady Spring Middle School in Raleigh County, has been selected as the statewide winner of West Virginia’s first-ever “I Voted!” Sticker Contest.
Warner kicked off the contest in December. With support from the state’s county clerks, more than 1,100 eighth grade student artists entered from across West Virginia. The contest was open to any eighth grader in any public, private, charter or home school program.
Entries were received from 42 counties. Each participating county clerk selected a first-place winner, and those 42 winners were placed into four regional contests. On February 17, Warner announced four regional finalists.
From February 17 through February 27, the public voted online for their favorite design. A total of 15,947 votes were cast in the 10-day period.
The four regional finalists were: Region 1 — Mackenzie Blizzard from Trinity Christian School in Morgantown; Region 2 — Arabella Piccolomini from Shepherdstown Middle School in Shepherdstown; Region 3 — Ellie Crislip from Ripley Middle School in Ripley; and Region 4 — Reese Childers from Shady Spring Middle School in Shady Spring.
Warner made the announcement at a press conference at the end of a National Civic Learning Week forum held in the Chamber of the WV Supreme Court of Appeals at the State Capitol on March 11.
“We all know the importance of getting our youth interested in elections — this contest did just that,” Warner said. “I was thrilled to see more than a thousand entries from all over the state! I can only hope our voters follow the lead of our eighth graders and participate in the upcoming election.”
Childers received a plaque featuring her artwork. Raleigh County Clerk Scott Van Meter was presented with 11,000 stickers featuring Childers’ design to hand out to Raleigh County voters who vote in person in the Primary Election.
West Virginia’s Primary Election is scheduled for May 12. The last day to register to vote or update a voter registration is April 21. Early voting begins April 29. For more information, visit GoVoteWV.com.
