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Voters to decide the future design of Colorado drivers licenses

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by Kyle Cooke • Published on
Four of the finalists for the future design of Colorado licenses
Credit: Colorado Dept. of Revenue
Rocky Mountain PBS

The Colorado Department of Revenue Division of Motor Vehicles is letting the people of Colorado pick the future design of state drivers licenses.

Voters have until February 5 to participate in the “Iconic Colorado” contest. They can pick between three designs for the front of the license, and three designs for the back.

“Our identification cards and driver licenses are the one thing that we all carry around almost everywhere we go. These cards that most of us carry around are the single most present piece of art and represent our identity and the great state that we call home,” said Gov. Jared Polis n a press release. “These cards should be beautiful, a credit to our state, and a point of pride for all Coloradans and to make that happen we need help from our deep pool of talented creators.”

The DMV said it received over 400 different submissions. Here is the link where you can vote for the finalists.

Voice your choice! Voting is now live to select a new background image for our new IDs and driver licenses. Voting...

Posted by Colorado Department of Revenue on Wednesday, January 27, 2021

The current leader for the front of the IDs, with nearly 50% of the vote, is a photo from Matt Nuñez of Mount Sneffels, located in the San Juan Mountain Range. For the back, the front-runner is a painting of bison by artist Jenn Cunningham.

“This painting...it flew into me and had to come out of me,” Cunningham said. She added that the art represents all the things she missed about Colorado when she lived in California for eight years.

Jenn Cunningham's painting of bison has received the most votes for the back of the IDs.

More interviews with the finalists are available here.

The two winners will receive $500 each for their designs due to the DMV’s partnership with Colorado Creative Industries.

Gov. Polis and officials with the DMV will be the ones to unveil the winning design.

"Part of reimagining state government is engaging people, giving them better service, and more personal choice," the Governor's Advisor on Efficiencies and Digital Transformation Lu Cordova said in a press release.

The contest began August 17. The state received 407 submissions—280 for the front and 127 for the back—from 119 different artists. According to the DMV, the finalists were selected by “a committee that included motor vehicle administrators, artists and Gov. Polis.”

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