“JAGWEED,” “BADARSE” and “AXEHOLE.”
These are just a few of the more than 300 requests for personalized vanity plates that were denied in 2024 by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office.
The office shared only a few of the 335 plate requests that were rejected for being offensive or inflammatory.
The rejected plate requests this year include “HOKTUAH,” “GYATT,” “MUNCH,” “BICHIN,” “ILLCUTU,” “HOHOHOE,” “ABADMF,” “WEENIE,” “DUCKOFF,” “SHIDDED,” “UGEWANG,” and “THICCAF.”
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias commended the public for showing creativity in last year’s 60,537 vanity plate requests that went through his office.
He said his office’s employees are well-versed in identifying “lecherous language and sneaky swearing” and placing those requests on a permanent list of prohibited plates.
That list currently stands at 8,015 license plate combinations, according to Giannoulias’ office.
The office also denied vanity plates that were deemed difficult to read and could pose a problem for law enforcement. Some of those included “MWMWMWM” or “OOQQOO.”
In October, Giannoulias’ office said it rejected five vanity plate applications that were variations of the date Oct. 7, after drawing complaints to the apparent nod to the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023.
According to state law, Giannoulias’ office has the authority to reject any application for personalized or vanity plates that “creates a connotation that is offensive to good taste and decency” as stated in Illinois’ vehicle code.
“The office 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,” Giannoulias’ office said in a news release.
Illinois vehicle owners pay an extra $94 for a new vanity plate containing all letters. Drivers pay an extra $47 for a new personalized plate with a combination of letters and numbers.
There are 811,351 vehicles registered in Illinois with vanity or personalized license plates, according to Giannoulias’ office. Of those, 294,324 are vanity plates and 531,035 are personalized plates.