THE ALASKA STORY
Sept. 14, 2026 – Alaskans heading to the polls this fall will receive an “I Voted” sticker featuring whales, moose, foxes, musk oxen and bears beneath a sweep of northern lights.
The Alaska Division of Elections selected Anchorage-based artist Amanda Rose Warren to create the cover art for the state’s five regional Official Election Pamphlets for the Nov. 3 general election. Her artwork will also appear on the stickers distributed to voters.
Warren’s concept, titled “Under One Aurora,” uses a different Alaska animal to represent each of the Division of Elections’ five regions:
- A humpback whale for Region I, headquartered in Juneau and covering Southeast Alaska, Kodiak, Prince William Sound and the southern Kenai Peninsula.
- A moose for Region II, covering the Municipality of Anchorage and Whittier.
- A fox for Region III, which includes Fairbanks and much of Interior Alaska.
- A musk ox for Region IV, covering northern and western Alaska, Southwest Alaska and the Aleutian Chain.
- A bear for Region V, which includes the Mat-Su Borough, the northern Kenai Peninsula and Valdez.
Each illustration is connected by the same green-and-yellow aurora borealis. Warren also incorporated the American and Alaska flags into all five designs to commemorate the 2026 election.
“I am incredibly excited and honored to create the cover art for the Alaska Division of Elections,” Warren said. “It’s a meaningful project for the people of Alaska, and it feels especially special as my oldest child will be voting for the first time this year.”
“I truly hope that my artwork brings smiles to faces and encourages everyone to get out and vote,” she said.
Warren was recommended for the project by Amanda McColley, the Division of Elections’ Region III supervisor in Fairbanks. McColley said her office already displays several pieces of Warren’s artwork.
“Her art never goes unnoticed,” McColley said. “Voters who visit our office often pause to appreciate her work, and it frequently sparks warm, positive conversations.”
Warren describes herself as a self-taught artist whose work is whimsical, using bold colors and dynamic linework to give her subjects a playful character. Her election illustrations retain that style, but the matching aurora and flags tie the five pieces into a single statewide collection.
The regional stickers continue an Alaska program that has turned the familiar polling-place giveaway into a showcase for Alaska artists and young people.
In 2018, Juneau artist Pat Race created eight cartoon-style stickers featuring Alaska animals, including a walrus on a snowmachine, a raven, a moose and a Dungeness crab. The stickers carried “I Voted” in English, Spanish, Tagalog and several Alaska Native languages and attracted attention far beyond the state.
For the 2020 election, the division commissioned noted Alaska artist Barbara Lavallee. Her illustrations depicted women from different parts of the state and marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which prohibited denying the vote on the basis of sex. The stickers were made available in English, Spanish, Tagalog and seven Alaska Native languages, along with downloadable digital versions for people voting from home. The project received an honorable mention from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in its national Clearinghouse Awards. The Division of Elections described the 2020 collection as a celebration of the diversity, strength and power of Alaska women.
In 2022, the division turned to Alaska’s young artists. More than 160 entries were submitted in a statewide “Vote Boldly” competition. Children ages 5 through 13 competed to design stickers, while artists ages 14 through 18 submitted artwork for the regional election pamphlet covers.
The public selected winners through a mock top-four primary and ranked-choice general election conducted online. One sticker design and one pamphlet cover were selected from each of the five election regions. The division said the contest was intended both to involve young Alaskans and to teach voters about the state’s then-new election system. The 2022 entries and winning designs remain available through the division’s contest archive.
In 2024, Tlingit artist James Johnson created a five-part design titled “Five Regions One State.” The interconnected Northwest Coast artwork was divided among the five regional pamphlets and adapted for the matching stickers. The project won a national Clearinghouse Award from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for creative and original “I Voted” stickers in a large jurisdiction.
The Official Election Pamphlet is published for each general election and contains information about candidates, judicial retention questions, ballot measures, voting locations and voter rights. The division produces five versions based on its regional jurisdictions. Printed pamphlets are mailed to voter households, while digital and audio editions are also made available. The Division of Elections says the pamphlets must be available no later than 22 days before Election Day.
The 2026 general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting begins Oct. 19.
