For Immediate Release
Date: March 7, 2007
Contact: Maura Browning
Phone: (573) 751-8222

Bluebird License Plate Selected by Majority of Missourians

       JEFFERSON CITY – After public meetings and 258,084 votes cast via the Internet, a majority selected a license plate featuring the state bird and state flower as Missouri’s new standard plate. Fifty-six percent (145,121) of the votes cast gave a thumbs-up to a plate showing a bluebird sitting on a hawthorn branch, with “Show Me State” printed down the right side.  The new plate will assist law enforcement statewide by reducing tab theft and improving plate visibility. Internet voting opened February 9, and closed at midnight March 5.

       The other two plate selections received significantly fewer votes. The plate showing reflecting text of “Missouri” with a sun replacing the “o” received 22.8 percent (58,949), while another option showing a ribbon through the “Missouri” text received 54,014 votes (20.9 percent).

       “This was truly a fun experience,” said Missouri Department of Revenue Director Trish Vincent. “It was wonderful to be part of the advisory committee that designed the plates, and for the first time, through technology, to let Missourians have the final say through an Internet vote.”

       In 2004, state legislators passed into law a required plate redesign. Senate Bill 1233 authorized the License Plate Advisory Committee to develop designs for a new standard Missouri license plate. The committee is made up of the superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the director of Revenue, the House and Senate Transportation Committee chairpersons, and the commissioner of Missouri Vocational Enterprises, which by law must produce Missouri’s license plates. The approved designs meet the needs of the Highway Patrol and allow for some features that will dramatically increase law enforcement’s ability to recognize expired plates.

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