Pictured from left are Nola Payton, Emily Carlisle, Cass County Clerk/Register Monica McMichael, and Andrew Ernst-Kucsera. Not pictured is Brianna Nathan-Keck. Payton, Carlisle, Ernst-Kucsera and Nathan-Keck were recognized for their award-winning designs for the inaugural I Voted Sticker Contest.
CASS COUNTY, Mich. — Cass County voters casting ballots in the August primary will have the choice of four stickers to show off their civic participation, thanks to a recent contest facilitated by the Cass County Clerk/Register’s Office.
Four high school artists were recognized during the Cass County Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday, as their designs were selected as the favorites in the clerk/register’s inaugural I Voted Sticker Design Contest.
“Since I’ve taken over as clerk/register, I have tried to get students involved in our elections,” said Clerk/Register Monica McMichael during Thursday’s board meeting. “One thing I started a few years ago was training our high schoolers to work the elections, which we’ve continued this year. If you go to vote in your polling place, you will most likely see a 16- or a 17-year-old working in the polling place, which is fabulous.”
Building off the goal of getting young people excited about voting, McMichael invited high school artists to submit designs for stickers celebrating the voting process. She shared the idea for the contest with high schools throughout the county, and three teachers — Courtney Dwyer of Dowagiac Union High School, Rebecca Yakel of Cassopolis/Ross Beatty High School, and Jeff Kozinski of Edwardsburg High School — helped to collect submissions from their students.
“We had over 70 submissions,” McMichael said. “We have a lot of talent here in Cass County.”
Submissions were reviewed by local officials, and, though the plan was to originally select one winner, the judges each selected a different sticker as their favorite, so McMichael opted to create stickers out of all four.
The winning designs were created by:
Emily Carlisle, a 2024 graduate of Cassopolis/Ross Beatty High School studying at the University of Michigan beginning this fall
Andrew Ernst-Kucsera, a senior at Cassopolis/Ross Beatty High School
Nola Payton, a junior at Edwardsburg High School
Brianna Nathan-Keck, a sophomore at Cassopolis/Ross Beatty High School
The four artists were awarded a certificate and a sheet of stickers with the design they created.
“I’m really passionate about art and spent a lot of time in our art classroom at our high school,” said Carlisle, who plans to study aeronautical engineering. “Our art teacher, Ms. Yakel, came forward with this opportunity and I thought it would be a good way to increase voter registration, combine art, which I have a passion for, and be involved with my community.”
Carlisle’s design played off the County seal, with the words “I VOTED” drawn three-dimensionally in the center.
Ernst-Kucsera said he has participated in other art contests before, including the Google Doodle contest where artists submit designs for the popular search engine’s homepage. He aspires to pursue art as a career after high school. His hand-drawn design featured the state of Michigan with a star marking Cass County, a U.S. flag and a lake.
Payton, the granddaughter of District 5 Commissioner Mary Howie, was excited for the challenge to create a design using the computer. Her design featured a three-dimensional map of Michigan with a star marking Cass County, and several items from the county seal, including a recreational vehicle, a pig, and some corn.
“I wanted to participate because it gave me an opportunity to try out digital art,” she said. “I normally do hand drawn art, and I thought it would be something fun to do and get me into doing art more.”
The fourth winner, Nathan-Keck, could not attend the commissioners meeting, but was recognized for her sticker depicting the county seal and Michigan’s state bird, the robin, and state flower, the apple blossom.
Cass County’s next election is Aug. 6, when voters cast their votes in the primary. As a reminder, voters may only select candidates from one political party in the August election. Voters unable to make it to the polls on Election Day may vote via absentee ballot, or in person at early voting, hosted from July 28 to Aug. 4 at the Cass County Road Commission. Visit casscountymi.org for more information.
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