With a historic milestone next year marking 250 years of American independence, here Where America’s Day Begins, Guam is celebrating democracy in a creative way.  A contest is being held to redesign the highly coveted “I Voted” stickers, with the winning artwork to be used in next year’s elections. 

The iconic stickers are a symbol of civic duty, with voters proudly displaying them everywhere, from shirts to social media. But these stickers will have a new design next election and the island’s youth will have a voice.  The Guam Election Commission is hosting a “I Voted” sticker design contest for students kindergarten through 12th grade islandwide.  It all started with an idea for a capstone project by public administration students at the University of Guam in collaboration with Guam Department of Education teachers.

UOG senior Ulysses Story explained, saying, "We were thinking of another way to promote America 250 next year. So we were thinking, ‘how do we make students [interested] in the civic duty of voting?’"

Next year will be America’s 250th anniversary since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As the nation celebrates this historic milestone, the project aims to promote civic duty, encourage youth engagement and increase voter registration and participation.  This comes as last general election, Guam saw a record low voter turnout at 48.7%, despite peak registered voters at 62,098. 

"This gives students a chance to produce an original artwork of their choice to promote civic duty. And we have some great prizes to go with it, too," Story said.

The “I Voted” sticker design contest kicks off this October 25 from 10am to 2pm at the Micronesia Mall, first floor on the Ross side. K-12 students from public, private, charter and DoDEA schools can participate. 

Story added, "They will also need a parent/guardian waiver. This is required to confirm the originality of the artwork, because AI is big right now. We want to make sure this is the student’s original artwork."

The contest ends January 30, with final judging in February.  Three designs will be selected from each school level and submitted to GEC.  The agency's commissioners and staff will select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners for elementary, middle and high school, with various prizes. 

"Then we’re going to work hard to get all those stickers printed up for the next election. I’m excited to see the creative works the students come up with," he said.

1st place sticker designs will be used for the 2026 elections, which is already gearing up to be an interesting gubernatorial race. But no doubt the real reward will be civic duty awareness among our youth. 

Early voter registration will also be available at the "I Voted" sticker design contest launch event at the Micronesia Mall.