New Nebraska License Plate Unveiled

Gov. Dave Heineman today announced the winning license plate design for new license plates to be issued in 2011. Approximately 109,000 citizens voted for their favorite of four plate designs on the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) website during the last two weeks.

The winning plate is black and red, featuring Nebraska.gov at the top. It received nearly 41,000 votes and was professionally designed by the state's license plate material vendor.

Gov. Heineman said, “We have a tradition of giving citizens the opportunity to vote for their favorite plate. While no single plate will appeal to every driver, they are first and foremost a critical asset for enforcement officers across our state. It was beneficial to both the state and citizens to have the opportunity to vote for their favorite design and offer feedback.”

The primary purpose of license plates is to assist law enforcement with vehicle identification. Readability is the most important factor in any design, in addition to space constraints and using a limited number of colors in order limit costs. State statute requires that license plates feature ‘Nebraska' and that the color be changed each time new plates are issued.

DMV Director Beverly Neth said, “While there has been much discussion during voting, it has been similar to our experience with other redesigns. I'm hopeful that there is a silver-lining to these debates, and those citizens who visited the Click DMV website were able to explore the array of convenient, online services now available to them. Regularly introducing new plates helps ensure compliance with motor vehicle registration.”

Col. Bryan Tuma, Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent, said, “License plates are our first and quickest means of identification. Plates are crucial in providing a unique description of a vehicle in any number of situations where time is of the essence. In the example of a missing child, a license plate ID sent out with an Amber Alert can greatly improve the success of officers and members of the public identifying a suspect's vehicle and recovering a missing child.”

Nebraska redesigns and issues new license plates every six years, up from every three years, following a 2004 change in state law. There are currently 2.2 million licensed motor vehicles in Nebraska.

Plate redesigns assist with compliance of motor vehicle registration, which collects over $500,000,000 annually. The majority of these funds are redistributed to local governments and schools. The fee for the 2011 plates will remain $3.25, or $6.50 for a set of two plates for each vehicle.

The plate design featuring the state bird and flower originally came from a Nebraska citizen and placed second in overall voting with nearly 34,000 votes. The design with the State Capitol received nearly 27,000 votes.  The “Good Life” plate finished last with nearly 7,000 votes.