By ALEX MALM

“We hate this license plate.”

That is the title of an online petition that has just about 6,000 signatures at the time of publication.

The petition, which is addressed to the Rhode Island Department of Motor Vehicles, was started after the winning license plate design was chosen as part of a statewide competition. Opponents of the license plate argue the design is essentially the same as the previous one and Rhode Islanders should be allowed to keep their current plates.

“Overwhelming consensus within our beautiful state is that we hate this license plate design and cannot imagine how it won,” the petition which was started by Rebecca Vieira reads. “We mean no disrespect to the person who submitted this, but it looks almost no different than the current design and reeks of a cash grab. This is as bad as the cooler/warmer fiasco. The state license plate represents our state on roads across the United States, we’re worth more than this generic ‘table saw’ blade.”

While there is nothing formal yet that would stop the new design from going into effect, state Rep. Edward Cardillo has introduced legislation to remove the $8 fee for the redesigned plate.

According to Paul Grimaldi, spokesperson for the DMV a total of 299,139 votes were cast in the online poll to choose a plate design. Grimaldi said people were able to vote multiple times, saying that it would’ve been more difficult to make it a one person one vote system.

The winning design received a total of 156,538 votes, and the runner up 61,064 votes. There were 940 designs submitted by more than 300 people.

According to a press release, vehicle owners will be required to replace their current license plates when they renew their registrations within the next two years. Grimaldi said that the license plates are expected to be available this summer.

“License plates don’t last forever, and we’ve had the same plates since 1996,” said Cardillo. “While I don’t object to a fee to replace damaged plates, it seems unreasonable to tack on a fee for a plate redesign when car owners are already paying registration fees every two years — especially when the state is mandating that the plates be replaced.”

Jon Stevens, a former Warwick City Planner, said that he is one of those urging people to sign the petition.

“It's a faulty process,” said Stevens. “There was no inclusion of branding or advertising or experts or artists.”

Stevens said that like the state did with the “cooler warmer campaign,” during the Gov. Gina Raimondo Administration the state should’ve hired professionals to come up with the design. He also questioned why the state didn’t try to incorporate the “Discover RI” messaging in the new license plate design.

“Why do you want to compete with the brand that you already have on the interstate highway system,” said Stevens.

For now, Cardillo hopes to at least save Rhode Islanders a few bucks.

“Let's give the taxpayers a break for once,” said Cardillo.