Los Alamos County selects winning student election sticker designs

Three student-made election stickers are moving from contest entries to polling-place handouts, giving Los Alamos County a small but highly visible way to make the 2026 election harder to miss. The clerk’s office said the winning designs were selected for the phrases “I Voted,” “I Voted Early” and “Future Voter,” and the stickers will be printed and distributed at all Los Alamos County voting locations during the 2026 election year.

The contest opened March 10 and was aimed at students from pre-K through 12th grade. County rules allowed either digital or hand-drawn submissions, but each entry had to be original and completed entirely by the student. The county also set a tight final format: each sticker would be roughly 2 inches by 2 inches, small enough to land on a ballot envelope, a jacket, or a laptop while still carrying a voting message.

The deadline came at midnight on April 7. County officials judged entries on creativity, originality, relevance to voting, unique qualities of Los Alamos, visual appeal and clarity of message, a rubric that made the project more than a classroom art exercise. In Los Alamos, where local government is often expected to be both practical and visible, the sticker contest serves as election outreach that starts well before voters reach a polling place.

County Clerk Michael D. Redondo said the contest was intended to encourage and inspire young local artists while helping them learn about the democratic process. That framing matters: the county is not just decorating Election Day, it is using student work to normalize participation and make voting look like part of civic life in Los Alamos County.

Winners and runners-up were to receive prizes and recognition at the May 17 County Council meeting. The county has used the same approach before, including a similar “I Voted” sticker contest recognized by County Council in September 2024. That earlier round honored Olivia Conner Lee, Eliana Michel, Siena, Abbie Johnson, Aubrey Rushton, Brook Smidt and Sophia Saunders, showing the program is becoming a recurring part of the county’s election toolkit rather than a one-time promotion.