SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias shared some of this year's greatest hits of the vanity and personalized license plates of added to the office's permanent "naughty list."
Out of more than 54,000 requests for vanity plates made this year, 304 were denied due to their offensive nature or because they were difficult to read.
State law gives the Secretary of State's Office the authority to reject any application for a personalized or vanity plate "that is offensive to good taste and decency," according to Illinois' Vehicle Code.
A small team of employees reviews all submissions and flags combinations of letters and numbers that can be construed as lewd or offensive, including expletives, racial epithets, sex and drug references and allusions to violence.
The office keeps a running list of plate combinations deemed offensive or difficult to read — it currently stands at 7,674 requests.
Some of the plates rejected for offensive content this year include POOPSY, WOOPASS, MILFS, DZNUTZ and IOWASUX. Other plates, like XKXKKXK or QOOQQOO, were rejected because they're difficult to read and could cause problems for law enforcement.
"Clever is too generous a word, but they did make me laugh," Giannoulias said in a YouTube video from the State's office. "I don't want to dissuade anyone from opting for a personalized license plate, but just remember — go ahead and make it clever, but please keep it clean to avoid the naughty list."
Giannoulias shared a few more rejected plates in a video on the office's YouTube channel. Be warned, some of the language in the video isn't family-friendly.
Illinois vehicle owners who want an all-letters vanity plate can pay an extra $94, or pay an extra $47 for a personalized plate with a combination of letters and numbers. Check out the office's Pick-a-Plate tool to see if the phrase you want is available.
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