SPRINGFIELD - Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias rejected more than 304 vanity and personalized license plates this year that were deemed too obscene or defamatory.
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The Secretary of State’s office received 54,768 requests for vanity and personalized plates this year, including the 304 that were denied because of their inflammatory or offensive nature or because they were difficult to read.
The rejected plate requests this year include: EATBUTT, BONER, MILFS, WOOPASS, POOPSY, DZNUTZ and IOWASUX.
“I appreciate the creativity and pride Illinoisans take in choosing their own customized license plates, but they must meet the standards of good taste and decency,” Giannoulias said. “We keep an eye out for anything tawdry, lewd or offensive, all of which are rejected and placed on our permanent rejection list.”
The Secretary of State’s Office oversees the process by which Illinoisans may request specific vanity or personalized license plates for their vehicles. A small team of employees reviews each request.
According to state law, Giannoulias’ office has the authority to reject any application for personalized or vanity plates that “creates a connotation that is offensive to good taste and decency” as stated in Illinois’ Vehicle Code.
The office flags combinations of letters and numbers that can be construed as lewd or offensive, including expletives, racial epithets, sex and drug references and allusions to violence.
Most of the rejected plates contained some sort of profanity or crude language. In some cases, like XKXKKXK or QOOQQOO, plates were rejected this year because they are difficult to read and could pose problems for law enforcement.
The Secretary of State’s office maintains an ever-growing rejection list, which currently stands at more than 7,674 license plate combinations deemed offensive or difficult to read.
Illinois vehicle owners pay an extra $94 for a new vanity plate, which contains all letters. They pay an extra $47 for a new personalized plate, which is a combination of letters and numbers.
Currently, there is a total of 811,351 vehicles registered in Illinois with vanity or personalized license plates to Illinoisans. Of this number, 279,500 are vanity plates and 531,851 of the plates are personalized plates.
Most Illinoisans use the office’s popular Pick-a-Plate feature on the website – apps.ilsos.gov/pickaplate – which allows the applicant to type in different combinations of letters, or letters and numbers, to see if they are available for purchase.
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