Beginning Monday, Georgia residents will have another chance to vote for a new license plate design.
On July 14, the Georgia Department of Revenue revealed the . Noticeably absent from the top designs was the statement "In God We Trust" that was 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 dollar and display it in lieu of the county name which is currently placed across the bottom of each tag.
Gov. Nathan Deal was set to reveal the winning design on Friday, July 15, however, after a public outcry regarding the "In God We Trust" motto, Deal has elected to reopen the online voting. The Georgia Department of Revenue confirms that beginning Monday, -- 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."
On the Dacula Patch Facebook page, several people expressed dismay regarding the missing decal after the three finalists were revealed.
"I plan on writing to the governor about removing 'In God We Trust' - the purpose I voted for the tag to begin with!" one user wrote.
"What's that all about? Are they going to charge for the county sticker too? Bet not. Why not print out 'In God We Trust' and charge for the county sticker if they want to make a buck," another user wrote. "Besides - that's not what we voted for. Why bother to have a vote at all?"
More than 500 entries were submitted by the public. A panel of Georgia college and university art professors chose eight of the designs to be featured in the online voting contest.
The new license plate design will go into production in 2012.
I wish more than just 8 would be available for selection. Surely there are some "plain" ones that don't have tacky colors or a big blob of orange on it for the peach. Really...we're the "peach state", but does it have to be the biggest part of the plate? I'm indifferent to the whole "in God we trust" debate, but if it's good enough to print on our money then it should come pre-printed on our tags and not an extra TAX for us to put it there. Needless to say my label maker will print out one that will work just fine for a cost that I have already covered personally with a public company.