Meet the VCU art alum behind the viral opossum voting sticker

The traditional "I voted" sticker has a distinctly Richmond twist inside city limits.

The Richmond Office of Elections sponsored a contest to design this year's sticker, which features an opossum voting.

The sticker was designed by VCU School of the Arts graduate Asia Rorick, and was selected as residents' favorite earlier this year out of four finalists.

“I’ve always been an art kid,” Rorick told her hometown Fredericksburg Free Press. “I used to make picture books in class and draw the historical figures we’d learned about that week in social studies.”

She credited the Richmond Reddit community with helping lift her design to victory.

As for the design, she told VCU News that the opossum is a great fit for Richmond.

“Opossums are specific to North America — as opposed to Australian possums — and their full ‘title’ is actually the Virginia Opossum,” she said. “I think their silly, fun, unconventional nature just connects with Richmonders. Plus, they live a dual life of city and nature dwelling, and I think Richmond encompasses that same nature-loving, city-living vibe.”

Rorick won $1,000 for creating the winning design.

The Office of Elections said it plans to run the contest again during the next mayoral and presidential election cycle in 2028.