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Unofficial winner features mountains, sky and white star.
By Matt Presser

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Monday, February 11, 2008

With more than 1.1 million online votes tabulated, we have an unofficial winner for a new Texas license plate design.

Texans cast 455,000 votes for Lone Star Texas, a red, white and blue plate that features a mountain range, blue sky and a white Lone Star, the winner pending verification of the vote.

Texans cast more than 456,000 votes for Lone Star Texas, a red, white and blue plate that features a mountain range, blue sky and a white Lone Star, the winner, pending verification of the vote. Natural Texas, which features a meadow of wildflowers, was a distant second place with more than 295,000 votes.


The week-long vote, which ended at noon today, offered visitors to the Texas Department of Transportation Web site the choice of keeping the current plate or choosing one of four new designs.


TxDOT created the online poll because it is running out of possible six-digit number and letter combinations for the current design, which features a cowboy, moon and space shuttle and was introduced in 2000.


TxDOT plans to officially designate a winner by the end of the week, after officials verify the accuracy of the votes, said spokeswoman Kim Sue Lia Perkes.


"We just need to make sure there wasn't anyone who got in and managed to figure out some way to corrupt our system and vote many more times than they were allowed," said Perkes. "At the end of the day, I think what you can see is that we pretty much have a runaway top vote-getter."


After the winning plate is verified, it will be presented to the Texas Transportation Commission on Feb. 28 for final approval.


Manufacturing of the top vote-getting plate is expected to begin next January, but if your favorite plate didn't finish first, there still might be hope.


"We're going to look into the possibility of offering some of the other license plates as speciality plates," Perkes said. "We don't want anybody to be disappointed."

"We're going to look into the possibility of offering some of the other license plates as speciality plates," Perkes said. "We don't want anybody to be disappointed."

sounds good to me because i didnt like the mountains so much.

J.T.supporta wrote:

"We're going to look into the possibility of offering some of the other license plates as speciality plates," Perkes said. "We don't want anybody to be disappointed."

sounds good to me because i didnt like the mountains so much.

We have MM65 to thank for that as he voted for that design over 55,000 times

Seriously.... my least favorite one had to win. Dag nab it!!! I was a big fan of the one in the upper left "Traditional Texas". Solid. No nonsense.

ThadFilms wrote:Seriously.... my least favorite one had to win. Dag nab it!!! I was a big fan of the one in the upper left "Traditional Texas". Solid. No nonsense.

Can't remember which one I voted for

ThadFilms wrote:Seriously.... my least favorite one had to win. Dag nab it!!! I was a big fan of the one in the upper left "Traditional Texas". Solid. No nonsense.

Thad-

Hope you are not in trouble with the law, just got the call that indeed I have been picked to serve on a jury tomorrow.

94

smupony94 wrote:

J.T.supporta wrote:

"We're going to look into the possibility of offering some of the other license plates as speciality plates," Perkes said. "We don't want anybody to be disappointed."

sounds good to me because i didnt like the mountains so much.

We have MM65 to thank for that as he voted for that design over 55,000 times

Nah. Only voted for it once. Reminds me of Ft. Davis, Marfa, Alpine, Big Bend, etc. The 'last frontier' of Texas.

Mountains on a Texas plate...hmm....Mountains aren't the first things that come to mind when I think of Texas. We do have them, but this isn't Colorado. Oh well.

On a related note: Have they enlarged the size of the Mustang on the SMU specialty plate? I always wanted an SMU plate, but the microscopic size of the Mustang logo just disgusted me, especially when all the other schools' plates had huge logos.

I checked the SMU plate on the txdot website and it seems the Mustang is bigger, but I won't believe it until I see it. Anyone gotten the SMU plate recently?

i just looked, and it didn't appear any bigger than the one i've always seen. I say get the plate. it's only $30. that's a few drinks at happy hour.

Longtime wrote:Mountains on a Texas plate...hmm....Mountains aren't the first things that come to mind when I think of Texas. We do have them, but this isn't Colorado. Oh well.

On a related note: Have they enlarged the size of the Mustang on the SMU specialty plate? I always wanted an SMU plate, but the microscopic size of the Mustang logo just disgusted me, especially when all the other schools' plates had huge logos.

I checked the SMU plate on the txdot website and it seems the Mustang is bigger, but I won't believe it until I see it. Anyone gotten the SMU plate recently?

Nope...it's the same miniature design...the only way to get it changed is for numerous SMU fans to write letters to their state senators and representatives to get it changed.

Thanks, MM65. I would think SMU has say-so over plates bearing its logo. Surely appealing to Dr. Turner or others would be a more efficient way to make a change? Any suggestions, SMU people?

That mustang really is tiny. Whoever approved it should be forced to clean Peruna's stall until it's changed.

...but just in case, do we have any Mustangs in the state legislature or other state entities?

Dutch wrote:i just looked, and it didn't appear any bigger than the one i've always seen. I say get the plate. it's only $30. that's a few drinks at happy hour.

I hear ya, Dutch. But for 30 bucks, I'd like for the Mustang logo to appear visible from a reasonably safe driving distance. When you look how huge the UofH and UNT logos are, it's like someone in Austin is playing a private little joke on SMU with the tiny Mustang.

I agree to a degree. The people who went to UofH and UNT need that big sign on there to let the world know that they actually went to college. I'm more a fan of the subtle logo that ours has. Everyone knows what it is, no need to rub their noses in it.

I guess I think that the clean look is classier than a big old honkin' logo on there. Just my opinion. plus, i've already got one of the metallic/chrome looking ponys on the back of my truck, and i've never been a fan of the "over fan". Just say it once.

I understand the understated, clean look. But there's so much white space above and below the pony logo, it's not just understated - it's darn near subliminal.

I'm not asking for a gigantic pony logo, but something a little bigger to fill the space the way the other school logos do.