Beginning Monday, Georgia residents will have another chance to vote for a new license plate design.
This past Thursday, the Georgia Department of Revenue revealed the three plate designs that received the most votes during an online contest.
Noticeably absent from the top designs was the statement "In God We Trust" that was displayed across the bottom of all three finalist tags during the preliminary voting.
According to a Department of Revenue spokesperson, the "In God We Trust" decal is an optional purchase. Citizens electing to use the "In God We Trust" decal would pay an additional dollar and display it in lieu of the county name which is currently placed across the bottom of each tag.
Gov. Nathan Deal was set to reveal the winning design on Friday. However, after a public outcry regarding the "In God We Trust" motto, he has elected to reopen the online voting. The Georgia Department of Revenue confirms that beginning Monday, Georgians will once again get to choose from the original eight plate designs -- this time without "In God We Trust" displayed across the bottom of any of the entries.
"We’re reopening the voting for three weeks so that everyone knows what they are voting on," wrote Deal spokesman Brian Robinson in an emailed response to questions. "There will be no stickers on the tags when voting reopens on Monday."
More than 500 entries were submitted by the public. A panel of Georgia college and university art professors chose eight of the designs to be featured in the online voting contest.
The new license plate design will go into production in 2012.
Our founding fathers were not Christians, and they did not particularly like Christians. If you read the works of Thomas Jefferson, you will find his convictions to keep Christians from controlling the country - it is why he insisted on separation of church and state. If you want to publicly proclaim your faith, that is your choice. But by removing Ïn God We Trust" from the license plates simply supports the concept of separation of church and state. It does nothing to remove your ability to believe as you choose. Kathryn