These stickers will inspire voters

By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Young artists were front and center at the Oct. 7 Board of Selectmen’s meeting.
Proud family members and new PMS Principal Gregory Keith attended.
Town Clerk Christine Bright created an “I Voted Design Sticker Contest” and 13 entries came from Putnam Middle School students.
The winners were announced at the selectmen’s meeting. Winning first place was Salem Lambert. In second was Gracie Rybacki and Quinn Lucier took third.
The stickers will be a little touch of Putnam offered to voters come election day. Bright will have 5,000 printed of the winning design.
The staff at Town Hall judged all the entries and came up with three finalists for the selectmen to pick from.
“I Voted” had to appear in the design. The judging criteria included: creativity and originality, relevance to the theme and visual appeal and ability to print well on a 2” x 2” sticker.
When she launched the contest Sept. 1, 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.
She wants 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.”

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The top three "I Voted" sticker design contest winners with the Board of Selectmen. Salem Lambert (gray sweatshirt) took first. Gracie Rybacki (black sweatshirt) took second and Quinn Lucier (white shirt) took third. Back right is PMS Principal Gregory Keith and Town Clerk Christine Bright is standing next to Rybacki. Linda Lemmon photo.

Lambert's 1st-place design

Rybacki's 2nd-place design

Lucier's 3rd-place design