MORGANTOWN – If it works out, Mackenzie Blizzard will be sticking with you in the voting booth when you cast your ballot this May.
Mackenzie, an eighth-grader at Trinity Christian School, was among the more than 1,100 of her peers across the state who percolated to the top during the “I Voted!” sticker contest launched by the office of West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner.
Warner came up with the idea this past December as a way to artistically build awareness of the fundamental right and obligation of voting – both in the Mountain State and everywhere.
Entrants designed and hand-drew stickers of the “I Voted” variety that always handed out at the polls on Election Day.
Mackenzie’s colorful work depicts a cardinal (West Virginia’s state bird) holding a banner with the legend, “I Voted,” against the unique, squiggly backdrop of the place we call home.
A place, he said, where everyone is on the same footing in the voting booth. A place where everyone can practice democracy, by way of their ballot.
“It could be Donald Trump or Taylor Swift or anyone in this auditorium,” he said during an earlier voting drive for young people in Morgantown. “We’re all equal.”
Mackenzie is joined by three other finalists from Shepherdstown Middle School in Jefferson County, Ripley Middle School in Jackson County and Shady Spring Middle School in Raleigh County.
Warner also wants you voting for the finalists by visiting his website at https://sos.wv.gov/Pages/default.aspx and typing “I voted” in the search field. There, you can cast your vote through 4:30 p.m. Feb. 27.
The winning sticker will be announced March 11 during the National Civics Learning Week program at the state Capitol Complex.
Come the primary election in May, in-person voters in the winning students home county will receive the sticker to take with them of a reminder of their civic duty, the secretary said.
“The participation was fantastic,” Warner said. “Selecting the county and regional winners was not an easy task.”
