Did Louisiana Plagiarize its Voting Sticker?

On May 3rd, 2025, my family and I went to the polls.

We are based in New Orleans, and this was our third election this year. Only one item, a millage for the local sheriff’s office, was on the ballot for us, and just two votes decided that election.

Other than the closeness of the vote, it was a boring election with less than 10% turnout in our parish. It seemed as if it would be soon forgotten.

As we left the polls, we received a voting sticker. Little did I know that the sticker would become the center of a plagiarism controversy pitting two states against one another.

It appears that Louisiana’s Secretary of State likely plagiarized the sticker. In doing so, it may face a copyright infringement lawsuit from an Ohio artist. While nothing is certain yet, what is clear is that the two designs are almost identical.

This raises several questions about what happened and why Louisiana, of all states, felt the need to copy another state’s work.

The Louisiana Sticker with Ohio Roots

In 2019, artist Emily Cook won a contest by the Ohio Secretary of State to design the state’s voting sticker. Her simple design features a red and blue state outline with the words “Ohio Voted” in the center. The “I” in Ohio and the word “Voted” were both in red to subtly spell out “I Voted.”

According to an article by WSYX, Cook learned that the state of Louisiana was using a very similar design for its voting stickers. It, too, features a red and blue state outline with the words “Louisiana Voted” in the center. Once again, the “I” in Louisiana and the word “Voted” are both in red, subtly spelling “I Voted.”

It’s not clear when Louisiana adopted its version of the sticker. However, their version definitely came after Cook’s original creation.

The reporters contacted the Louisiana Secretary of State but received no comment. However, the page on the Secretary’s site where users could download the sticker has been removed. Despite that, the images are still up, including both a red and yellow version of the sticker.

This has prompted a strong response from Cook, who is registering her version of the sticker ahead of a potential copyright infringement lawsuit. But, as similar as the two designs are, several major obstacles make a successful copyright infringement lawsuit unlikely.

A Copyright Conundrum

As clear as the similarities between the two stickers are, Cook faces several challenges if she wants to win a copyright infringement lawsuit.

First, she has to prove that she owns the design. In a comment to WSYX, the Ohio Secretary of State said that all contest entries became their property. However, the contest rules did not address copyright or specifically transfer the rights.

As such, Cook may be able to argue she still holds the copyright to the work and simply granted the state a license to use it. However, that would be an issue for the courts to decide.

Second, it would be difficult to file a copyright lawsuit against a state. As we learned in North Carolina’s fight over footage of Blackbeard’s ship, suing a state for copyright infringement is nearly impossible.

States enjoy sovereign immunity, which means they cannot be sued in federal court. However, only federal courts can hear copyright cases. This creates a catch-22: It is functionally impossible to sue a state for copyright infringement.

However, if Cook can overcome that hurdle, she then has to prove that the new sticker is an infringement. Though the similarities are apparent, the sticker likely enjoys very thin copyright protection. Color choices, state outlines, and even the idea of using the red “I” are not protectable by themselves. She would have to prove that copyrightable elements were copied, which may be difficult.

All in all, a copyright infringement lawsuit over this seems unlikely. But that doesn’t mean Louisiana is out of the woods.

The Bigger Issue

For the Louisiana Secretary of State, there’s a bigger question: Why did they plagiarize?

As a resident, I can testify that the state has a long history of interesting, unique and decisively Louisianan voting stickers. From dapper crawfish to abstract pelicans to watercolors of the state’s capitol building, the state has always used interesting and vibrant stickers created by local artists.

Once, the state even used a sticker designed by the local artist “Blue Dog.” That sticker is so popular that you can find it on eBay nearly a decade later.

The plagiarized sticker is out of character, and it doesn’t fit in with Louisiana’s history of voting stickers.

This raises a series of questions: Why did the state choose this sticker? Who designed it? And what will the state do with it now?

The Louisiana Secretary of State removed the page allowing the public to download the sticker. However, it hasn’t commented on the selection process or why a new sticker was used.

Unlike other stickers, there was no contest to decide it. The state used the aforementioned crawfish sticker until at least late 2024. Where this sticker came from is a complete mystery.

The Secretary of State has some difficult questions to answer. Not only does it need to answer how and why a plagiarized sticker was used, but it also needs to explain why it ended a robust tradition to do so.

Bottom Line

The plagiarism is pretty obvious when comparing the two stickers. While there are differences between them, the similarities far outweigh those divergences. The odds of these two works being created independently are extremely low.

But while the similarities are clear, a successful copyright infringement lawsuit is unlikely. Cook has just too many hurdles to overcome. As frustrating as it is, this is an area where plagiarism and copyright don’t align neatly.

That said, the Louisiana Secretary of State has a great deal to answer for. Not only does it have to explain how it allowed the plagiarism to happen and who is responsible, but it also has to explain why it ended a rich tradition for a work that turned out to be plagiarized.

As great as Cook’s sticker is, it doesn’t fit in with Louisiana’s history here. It stands out when compared to other recent stickers.

Why did the Secretary of State abandon a tradition so inherently Louisianan to use a sticker that was literally plagiarized from another state? It is a baffling decision.

Sadly, it’s a question we’re not likely to get an answer to.