Vote on the New License Plate, Again

The designs that and a lot of opinions on the Cartersville Patch Facebook page is again on the table. Beginning Monday, Georgia residents will have another chance to vote for the new standard-issue license plate.

Thursday, the Georgia Department of Revenue revealed the three plate designs that received the most votes during an online contest.

Noticeably absent from the top designs was the statement "In God We Trust" that had been displayed across the bottom of all three finalist tags during the preliminary voting.

According to a Department of Revenue spokesperson, the "In God We Trust" decal is an optional purchase. Citizens electing to use the "In God We Trust" decal would pay an addition $1 to display it in lieu of the county name currently on tags.

Gov. Nathan Deal was set to reveal the winning design on Friday, however, after a public outcry regarding the "In God We Trust" motto, Deal elected to reopen online voting.

During preliminary voting, "In God We Trust" was across the bottom of the three designs that became the finalists, and state officials say the voting may have been skewed because it was not made clear the statement would be an optional purchase on any of the designs.

Beginning Monday at 3 p.m. and continuing through Aug. 8 at 3 p.m., Georgians will once again get to choose from the orginal eight plate designs — this time without "In God We Trust" displayed across the bottom of any of the entries.

"We’re reopening the voting for three weeks so that everyone knows what they are voting on," wrote Deal spokesman Brian Robinson in an emailed response to questions. "There will be no stickers on the tags when voting reopens on Monday."

The more than 500 entries submitted by the public by a panel of Georgia college and university art professors in the original online voting contest.

The new license plate design will go into production in 2012.

Late Monday, click here to vote on your favorite, again. State officials are encouraging all Georgians to vote for the design that best represents the Peach State.

All eight designs are attached to this article. Nos. 5, 6 and 7 were the previous finalists.