Here it is: the new Georgia license plate

It’s been a long, arduous process — and now we have a winner.

Governor Nathan Deal chose today from three finalists, none of which I liked. And he picked the one that I like least. It seems he just chose the one of the final three that got the most votes in the previous round; both the winner and the second place votegetter were designed by the same artist.

Somehow I am not surprised.

Georgians will presumably still have options of a variety of specialty tags, and there’s this odd snippet from the press release: “Georgia taxpayers will not incur any added expense for production of the new license plates and will also have the option of selecting a plain tag.”

Here it is:

Here’s the entire press release from the governor’s office:

Gov. Nathan Deal, along with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Department of Revenue Commissioner Doug MacGinnitie, unveiled today Georgia’s new general issue license plate tag. The license plate, designed by Linda Sosebee of Forsyth, is scheduled to begin production in the fall. It garnered the most online votes with a total of 34,154 in the recently concluded 2011 License Plate Design Contest administered by the Department of Revenue.

“After hundreds of thousands of votes were cast, we are pleased to announce the winning design,” Deal said. “All of the semifinalists submitted great designs that would reflect well on our state, but the winning plate was the clear favorite among voters. I congratulate Linda Sosebee on being named the winner.”

Sosebee’s design proved to be the top vote-getter by a wide margin, as the second-place choice of online voters received 15,380. The Department of Revenue received more than 500 design submissions at the outset of the contest. The second-place design was also submitted by Sosebee. Sosebee has created many large-scale murals for the Department of Corrections, the Forsyth-Monroe County Chamber of Commerce, several hospitals and private practices and has also designed logos for businesses and corporations. She and her husband, Hugh, have one son.

Georgia’s new general issue license plate will incorporate a “digital” (flat) design, meaning it won’t have raised numbers and letters. This new production process will result in a cost savings to the state and allow customers the option of having their license plate delivered to them instead of having to go to a county tag office. The “flat” plate technology will afford easier identification by Georgia law enforcement.

Georgia taxpayers will not incur any added expense for production of the new license plates and will also have the option of selecting a plain tag. During the owner’s registration period, the department will begin replacing existing license plates once the plate has exceeded the minimum five-year life as set forth by the Georgia Code. O.C.G.A. § 40-2-31.