A Colorado Springs student’s drawing of one of the state’s most recognizable public artworks is headed for voters’ phones. Halle G., a senior at Pine Creek High School, won Colorado’s 2026 “I Voted” digital sticker contest with a design based on Mustang, the blue horse sculpture outside Denver International Airport. The state announced her selection Oct. 12. BallotTrax users will receive the sticker after their mail ballots are accepted.
The Secretary of State’s announcement describes Mustang as one of Colorado’s recognizable landmarks and says the sculpture is affectionately known as “Blucifer.” Halle’s winning design is a rendering of the horse, rather than the airport sculpture itself. That distinction matters: the contest asked students to make original art, and the state’s release credits Halle for the design while naming Luis A. Jiménez, Jr. as the sculptor behind the landmark.
A statewide invitation to young artists
The contest asked Colorado high school students to make an original, nonpartisan design that included the words “I Voted.” State rules opened it to students ages 13 through 18 enrolled in a Colorado high school or homeschool program. Entries could be made on paper or digitally, and the Secretary of State’s office said a committee would select the winner. Submissions were due Sept. 4. The March rules also said staff would present the winner’s award during an assembly at the student’s school and feature the design on the office’s website and media channels.
The Gazette reported that Halle’s design was selected from 142 entries. The statewide contest offered students a chance to make something that would appear in a public-facing election program, rather than remain only in a classroom or portfolio. The winning artwork will also be featured on the Secretary of State’s website, media channels and other materials, according to the contest announcement.
Art that travels with a ballot update
Halle told The Gazette that she was glad people connected with the design and that young people should be represented in democracy. In the Secretary of State’s release, she said she thought Blucifer would be “really cool to include.” The choice gives the sticker a local reference that Colorado voters may recognize when it appears in a text or email notification, rather than on a sign near the airport.
The sticker is tied to BallotTrax, Colorado’s service for receiving updates about a mail ballot. The state says enrolled voters can get status notifications by phone, email or text, from the time a ballot is mailed through its receipt and counting. When a participating voter’s ballot is accepted, the notification will include Halle’s digital sticker. The state describes it as a digital sticker delivered through BallotTrax to participating voters after their ballots are accepted.
The scale of that service gives the student design a route beyond the contest itself. The Secretary of State’s Oct. 12 release said more than 2.3 million Colorado voters were enrolled in BallotTrax, representing over 57 percent of the active electorate at that time. Those figures describe enrollment reported by the state, not a guarantee that every voter will receive a sticker; the announcement specifically connects delivery to BallotTrax users whose ballots have been accepted.
Halle has expressed interest in studying political science, The Gazette reported. Her contest win links that interest with a piece of visual communication: a small, nonpartisan image that accompanies a practical update about a ballot. It does not ask voters to support a candidate or position. Its job is simpler: to mark a ballot milestone and give recipients an artwork they can choose to share.
The design’s path from a Pine Creek student’s entry to a statewide digital notification also shows how a local landmark can be seen in a new context. Mustang is a large sculpture encountered by travelers approaching Denver International Airport; Halle’s version is made to appear in the same everyday stream as a ballot-status message. For voters who use BallotTrax, the blue horse will be a reminder that a student’s original art can travel beyond the place where it began.
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