Winner: Nebraska

The official press release: PDF - text (pending)

1. Nebraska - 991 votes

1. Nebraska - 991
2. Nunavut - 687
3. Oregon - 410
4. Arkansas - 298
5. Georgia - 283
6. Virginia - 251
7. Oklahoma - 323
8. Tennessee - 224
9. Kentucky - 221
10. West Virginia - 201
11. Nova Scotia - 186
12. Texas - 170
13. New York - 109
TOTAL: 4253

The official press release: (pending) PDF - text

See the previous winners.

Click to zoom.
Photo credits: see below

(See the previous winners).

About this year's awards

We had a whopping number of nominations this year for the Best Plate Award - 24, in fact. A committee of members has chosen the best 13 of these plates which are shown here. Previously, only new plate designs from the past calendar year were considered for US states, Canadian provinces and their territories. For the first time, the contest was opened up to include new plates from any jurisdiction in the world. We only had one such international nomination (Marshall Islands) but it was almost unanimously rejected by the committee members.

Criteria for this contest are both legibility and attractiveness. Even the most attractive plate fails to serve its basic purpose if you can't read the number or identify the state. Of those nominated, ten are embossed. The Nunavut, Texas Classic and the Georgia Peach plates are the only regular, general-issue license plates on the ballot. (Nunavut is a Canadian Territory that was formed from part of Northwest Territory in 1999.) The Texas Classic is the only one that as a retro look. Also chosen was the West Virginia Sesquicentennial which is a no cost, optional plate. The other plates chosen are all extra cost optional plates to promote or raise funds for special causes as follows: Arkansas Crappie Wildlife, Kentucky Horse Council, Nebraska Friends of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, Ski Areas of New York State, Nova Scotia Acadian Flag, Oklahoma Deer Wildlife (new design), Oregon Wine Country, Tennessee Memphis Rock N Soul Museum and Virginia Blue Ridge Parkway.

Other nominated plates that were not chosen by the majority of the committee are as follows: Idaho Aviation Foundation, Illinois Share the Road, Louisiana Seafood, Manitoba Firefighter, New York Veteran, North Carolina Wild Turkey Federation, Ohio Glen Helen and South Carolina Endangered Species (Sea Turtle). The Texas Conserve Water was not considered instead as a general issue takes preference. The Virginia Shenandoah Valley motorcycle plate was also nominated but since it is virtually identical to the passenger version introduced in a prior year, it was not considered.

Many of the nominations did not include photos of actual plates. There were problems with the quality of the photos on a few others. Therefore, rather than not exclude these plates, we have used sample photos that are identical to the actual production plates. I would have much preferred photos of real plates but I ask that you judge each plate on the contest criteria and not let your vote be affected by which plates are samples. The photos will also be posted on the ALPCA website. If we receive quality photos of real plates, we will replace the sample one. If you have a good picture of any of these samples, please email it to bestplate@alpca.org. If you have any doubts about the actual appearance of a real plate, please check the website.

Enclosed with this issue is a Best Plate Award ballot with the instructions. Please vote for your first, second and third choices. Your first choice will receive 5 points, your second choice receives 3 points and your third choice 1 point. The plate with the most points wins. Feel free to vote for only one or two plates if you choose. For the first time, I have also added an option for âNone of the Aboveâ to accommodate a few of our members who are interested enough to participate but are not satisfied with any of the choices. Feel free to comment on any or all of them as I enjoy sharing as many of your comments as possible in the article with the results. You may instead vote by email with this information to bestplate@alpca.org. Due to time constraints I will however not be able to reply. I would suggest those overseas to vote by email to avoid missing the deadline due to postal delays.

I would like to thank the following members for participating by either nominating a plate. Supplying a photo or serving on the committee: Bill Becker (5731), Steve Benson (6649), Scott Broady (2979), William Jerry Carey (9839), Don Cantello (4905), Charlie Cole (10802), Craig Chapman (7599), John Finding (5019), Craig Hardesty (9258), Dave Frasier (1331), Ralph Lindken (9617), Mike Kaelin (985), John Murphy (9408), Kenny O'Dell (10086), Andrew Osborne (3259), Joe Sallmen (7100), Brian Sawyer (9571), Bob Scranton (7361), Mike Sells (6464) and Tim Stentiford (2220). I encourage everyone to vote. The deadline for me to RECEIVE your ballot by regular mail or email is midnight, CST, on March 1. Due to publication deadlines, I regret that any ballots received after that date cannot be included in the official results. I thank you in advance for your participation.