News

You can’t get that on a license plate

A screenshot of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias reading some of the rejected personalized license plates. Photo: Contributed/Illinois Secretary of State via YouTube


Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Not every personalized or vanity license plate request in Illinois gets approved.

That’s according to Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. He says after several hundred requests were added to the “rejected list” this year, there are now more than 8,500 combinations that are permanently not allowed.

You can watch Giannoulias read some of the less offensive ones below, including, let’s say, one involving plastic surgery for one’s posterior.

“Illinoisans consistently show off their creativity on customized license plates, but anything that hits the road has to meet the standards of good taste and decency,” Giannoulias said, in a news release. “Our team is fluent in lewd lingo and sneaky swearing – and they catch it all. When a plate crosses the line, it goes straight onto our permanent rejection list.”

In the video, Giannoulias jokes that some might appeal to your sensibilities if you’re ten years old, while another he said he wished his wife would stop requesting.  Another still was something he claimed might be connected to “Gen Z.”

There are standards outlined in the Illinois Vehicle Code, Giannoulias said.  If you want to see if your vanity plate or personalized plate is available and/or not permanently banned, CLICK HERE.

According to Giannoulias’ news release, nearly 800,000 vehicles in the state have personalized or vanity plates, and getting them continues to be very popular.

Why does Giannoulias release a list of rejected license plates now?  He said because that means they are on the “naughty list.”

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