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New Website Lets You Pick State's New License Plate

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) — Four new license plate tags were recently designed by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Each has a sleek, smooth surface, better readability and seven characters instead of the traditional six.

As for the plates' cosmetics, state officials are letting you decide.

A new website, Vote4FloridaTag.com, will let drivers pick the plate they prefer. The website will go live for voting Nov. 26 to Dec. 14.

"We've found out people are really passionate about their license plates," Kirsten Olsen-Doolan, spokeswoman for the department, told the Tampa Bay Times. "We've gotten phone calls and letters, both to our agency and the Governor's Office. We wanted to give people an opportunity to weigh in."

A committee comprising 20 law enforcement workers and state officials considered dozens of design choices. The four finalists have a citrus flair, with lime green fringe and a leafy Florida orange.

This is the state's first major step toward a redesign since elected officials protested an October proposal by Highway Safety Chief Julie Jones to outsource some of the tags' distribution. Jones was poised to ask the state for $24 million to jumpstart the project, but the unexpected opposition prompted her to hold off.

Your sportscar won't be sporting the new plates until at least 2014.

Read why the new plates are needed in the full article on the Tampa Bay Times site.

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