Indiana is letting the public choose which of four license plate designs should adorn their cars.
Design options for the state's new standard license plate have a state flag theme and a spot for stickers identifying the car's home county as the Bureau of Motor Vehicles looks to drop its decades-old numbering system.
The public can begin voting Tuesday for the plates that will be distributed to motorists next year. The new plates will replace those issued in 2003 that are green-blue pastel with a farm landscape.
The four designs include two with close-ups on portions of the state flag's torch and stars and another with the state seal to one side and a state flag image in the background.
BMV Commissioner Ron Stiver said Monday that the four finalists were picked from more than 40 proposals submitted by colleges, design agencies and state departments.
Voting on the new designs will be conducted on the BMV's Web site and at license branches through April 18, with the winning plate announced next month. More than 150,000 votes were cast in 2002 to select the current plate design.
"These all relate to Indiana, whether it is the torch or the seal, that seems to be a strong tie to Indiana's tradition or heritage," Stiver said of the four new designs.
A change in the plates' numbering system is planned by the BMV as part of the redesign. The agency intends to scrap the one- or two-digit code at the beginning of the plate number identifying the county where the vehicle was registered.
Adopting a new code of six numbers and letters could allow the BMV to stop stocking plates for all 92 counties at each branch around the state and make it easier for auto dealers and others begin issuing vehicle tags, Stiver said.
"It enables us to more widely offer services at these various partners, and it saves up to about $1 million a year in reduced inventory costs," he said.
The Indiana House, however, approved a bill last week containing a provision that would require the BMV to keep the county codes on the plates.
A letter from State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell and the directors of the state sheriffs and police chiefs associations said they were confident the BMV's numbering change would not hamper law enforcement work.
But state Rep. Thomas Saunders, who proposed legislation to keep the county codes, said he was concerned that the new stickers would be covered by license plate frames and make it more difficult for police and eyewitnesses to quickly identify plate numbers.
"When you talk to the rank-and-file road officer, they really like to be able to look at the first one or two numbers and be able to tell what county the vehicle is from," said Saunders, R-Lewisville.
Agency spokesman Greg Cook said truck plates and the more than 60 specialty tags offered by the BMV have not before included any county identification, but small county ID stickers have been added to new specialty plates this year.
As car specialty plates have proliferated since the mid-1990s, the BMV reports that the 5.4 million standard plates now on the road cover just about 40 percent of those issued for Indiana vehicles.
Saunders said he was not seeking a redesign on the specialty or truck plates to accommodate the county codes.
"I understand they are trying to extend places where people can get their plates," Saunders said, "but I think we can work around this."
Official votingCitizens can vote online by going to the BMV Web site at IN.gov/bmv or cast their ballot in a BMV license branch. Polls close April 13.
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