"I Voted" Sticker Contest Draws More than 500 Entries

Prince William County Office of Elections’ inaugural 2024 “I voted” Sticker Design Contest received 576 entries, reflecting local pride in community. The winning stickers depicted Prince William County scenes, landmarks, attractions and nature.  

In an award ceremony at the Old Manassas Courthouse, Prince William County Director of Elections Eric Olsen said the Office of Elections held the contest to raise awareness and try to get more people out to vote.   

“It garners increases positive coverage, and it gets people engaged in the process. It gets voters excited about voting,” Olsen said of the contest. “People get really excited about the stickers. Clearly, it’s important and it’s a symbol of the pride we all take in voting.”   

Staff at the Prince William County Office of Elections narrowed the entries down to 11 finalists in rank-choice voting. After that, roughly 600 election officers selected their favorites from the finalists through additional rounds of rank-choice voting to determine the top four winners.    

Therese Thomas, a local artist with an architecture background, took first place in the contest with her red, white and blue patriotic-themed sticker featuring a silhouette of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.    

“I always look for landmarks and places. I think that I-95 is the major artery through Virginia and the Marine Corps Museum is a beacon,” Thomas said. “You can’t miss that museum. It’s also a very popular landmark in our community, so I selected that for my sticker. I went with a more patriotic, retro theme.”   

Thomas hopes her sticker will remind people of a larger purpose.   

“I just really want to encourage everybody to get out there and vote,” she said.   

Second place winner Erika Lozano created “Hands In PWC” with diverse hands surrounding a map of Prince William County.   

Latecia Abbington took third place with “County Montage 1731,” which depicted county landmarks with the words “Prince William County is for Voters,” encircling the sticker’s borders.   

Fourth-place winner Chris Moore, a local freelance illustrator, created a sticker he called “Colorful Cannon.” The sticker depicted a cannon, fields, trees, mountains and a historic building resembling the Stone House at the Manassas National Battlefield Park.  

“It really is designed to represent Prince William County as a whole,” said Moore. “I focused more on the historical significance. At its heart, Prince William County is a community.”   

Sonja Mueller’s “Cartoon Cardinal” sticker features a cardinal on a blue background with “Future Voter” inscribed across the top. Although her sticker fell outside of the winner’s circle, it was a staff favorite and earned her a special category.   

“I’m still processing everything, but I’m excited,” said Sonja, a 15-year-old Colgan High School student who walked away with the special prize.  

Montclair Elementary School earned the award as the top contributing school with 167 entries.   

The top four stickers will be rolled out, one per year, for the next four elections through 2027. Mueller’s sticker will go to children accompanying their parents to the polling places in upcoming elections.   

“We loved all the stickers, and really wanted to honor each of them,” said Olsen. “We thought, ‘We have four stickers. Elections run in four-year cycles. These represent a lot of places and people from the county and really function as a nice set. We hope that they get voters excited and talking about voting’” 

Visit https://www.pwcvotes.org/ to see the winning stickers.