MINNETONKA, MN – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) invited Minnesotans to begin voting for the 2021 Congressional Art Competition “People’s Choice Award.” Forty-seven talented students from nine high schools across Minnesota’s Third District submitted incredible works of art for the national competition. For the first time in MN-03 history, the People’s Choice Award will be decided using Ranked Choice Voting, a system of voting that is proven to build consensus and discourage division. In addition to the Congressional Art Competition, Rep. Phillips supports the use of Ranked Choice Voting to decide comparatively lower-stakes elections, such as U.S. congressional races.

“Throughout the most challenging year in generations, our young people have shown remarkable resilience and spirit” said Rep. Phillips. “That is abundantly clear in all of this year’s submissions, which are among the most moving and impressive works my office has seen in the three years we’ve hosted the Congressional Art Competition. Congratulations to all of the extraordinary students who submitted works of art, our judges and voters have a challenging task ahead!”

The full gallery of submissions can be found at repDP.org/2021art. Constituents can use Ranked Choice Voting to choose their favorites at phillips.house.gov/art until Friday, May 7^th. Voters will be directed to rank their top three submissions, and the piece with the strongest base of support will be declared the winner and be displayed in the Congressman’s Washington, DC office for one year.

The students’ submissions will also be reviewed by a panel of expert judges, who will select one winner to hang in the Congressional Art Competition gallery in the U.S. Capitol.