On Monday, Governor Laura Kelly announced the new Kansas standard-issue license plate design chosen by a majority of Kansans after a week-long voting process that elicited nearly 270,000 votes. Kansans chose the design featuring the Kansas Statehouse dome within a cutout of the state and a yellow, white, and blue gradient background. It received 53%, of the total votes.
"It's great to see Kansans' passion for representing our great state," Governor Laura Kelly said. "Now, we can move forward on a design that received majority support and get clearer, safer license plates on the streets as soon as possible."
This is the first time the state has allowed public input on the standard tag. Governor Kelly has asked the Kansas Department of Revenue to review their process for selecting license plate designs moving forward. The State of Kansas incurred no additional costs for designing the new license plate options or the voting website; existing contracts with Kansas-based firms covered both.
Governor Kelly also addressed the license plate designs that were not part of the voting process but have circulated widely on social media.
"So many of the designs circulated on social media and sent to my office are beautiful works of art but, unfortunately cannot be used given the strict public safety, printing, and branding guidelines the new license plate has to meet," Governor Kelly said. "Kansans will notice that license plates across the country are moving to simpler designs – that's because of law enforcement and license plate reader requirements. Our number one priority with these license plates is safety."
