By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — How to inspire future voters? An “I Voted” Sticker design contest.
Christine Bright, town clerk, created the contest for Putnam students. It’s open to any middle school or high school student — public, private or home-schooled. It starts Sept. 1 and entries can be submitted right up until the deadline, by 4:30 p.m. Sept. 30.
Competitors will design a logo for an “I Voted” 2-inch sticker (and to be used as digital graphics) for use during the Nov. 5 general election.
Bright said she was inspired when she went into the voting booth as a kid in elementary school. She said she got to flip the switches and pull the handle to close the curtain. “I couldn’t wait until I was 18 to vote. I wanted kids to look forward to participating as well,” she said.
So she had been searching for ideas to get “our future voters interested and involved in the democratic process.”
She said “I had taken classes this summer towards my master clerk certification at Plymouth State University and during an elections roundtable I attended, mention was made of a similar contest held in Rhode Island during the pandemic. I researched similar contests around the country and came up with this event for Putnam.”
Putnam Town Hall employees will select the top three designs from the middle school entries and the top three from the high school entries. Then selectmen will vote on the winning artwork from each category.
The winners will be announced at the Oct. 7 selectmen’s meeting. The stickers will be distributed during the Nov. 5 general election to all voters in the town of Putnam. Winning entries will become property of the town. The town clerk’s office is authorized to use the entrant’s name, grade, school and at least one photograph and/or video of the entrant for any legal use including publicity.
Some contest rules:
Stickers must be nonpartisan and may not promote any party, candidate or political issue. No copyrighted images may be included. By submitting an entry, you acknowledge that your artwork is your original work. It is recommended that entrants do not use only one color or your artwork could be considered partisan.
Entries and release forms must be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. Sept. 30 to:
An entry must be created on the Design Contest Template and a signed contest release form must be completed, signed and sent in with the entry. Entry forms and the sticker contest template may be downloaded from putnamct.us/departments/town-clerk. Any questions can be directed to Bright at:
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