BOSTON — About 30,000 Massachusetts residents have applied for a chance to secure one of 1,000 low-number license plates celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary, but there’s still another month to enter the lottery.
On Tuesday, the Registry of Motor Vehicles gave the specialty item a promotional bump, publicizing the potential to secure plates ranging from 1 through 999, as well as 1776, through the lottery.
The “Massachusetts 250 Years of Independence” plate is red, white, and blue and state officials say it is the most popular specialty plate in the state with more than 57,000 issued in just over nine months. The MA250 plates are six-character plates such as MA1234. The plate features a blue background, with the year “1776” surrounded by 13 stars and the phrase “250 Years of Independence” at the bottom.
Applications for the special low-number plates will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 17. A drawing will be broadcast on the RMV website on May 7.
Applying for the lottery is free. All specialty plates carry a biennial $40 fee, along with a registration fee of $60 if applicable.
A person who applies for the Massachusetts 250 Low Number License Plate Lottery must be a Massachusetts resident with a current active, Massachusetts registered, and insured passenger motor vehicle.
As a condition of the application process, applicants consent to their name, zip code, and any other information that is required be released in accordance with the Massachusetts Public Records law.
Only one entry per applicant will be accepted, regardless of the number of active passenger motor vehicle registrations the applicant has on file with the RMV.
The following are ineligible to participate:
Companies and corporations
Commercial vehicles and motorcycles
Any employee of MassDOT, including but not limited to executive level employees, RMV, Highway, MBTA, Rail and Transit, Aeronautics, all shared services within MassDOT, and contract employees
Any employee of Mass Lottery, including but not limited to executive level employees and contract employees
Immediate family members of any MassDOT employees (as described above) and Mass Lottery. This includes parents, spouses, children, and siblings.
An applicant whose Massachusetts registration is not in an active status (i.e., in a non-renewal, suspended, or revoked status) at the time of entry, at the time of the lottery, or at the time of the plate swap.
An applicant with outstanding violations or obligations reported to the RMV
Requests for specific plate numbers will not be honored. Plates will be awarded using an electronic random number generator system.
Lottery results, such as winner’s name, place of residence, and winning plate number, will be available on the RMV website (Mass.Gov/RMV) within 5 business days of the lottery event, which will occur in May.
All winners will be notified by mail with instructions on how to transfer their current registration to their new lottery plate. Winners will have until Friday, Aug. 28, to pay for and swap their plates.
Unclaimed plates by the deadline are considered forfeited by the initial winners, and those plates will be awarded to the pre-selected alternate winners after Friday, Aug. 28
Plates will be registered only to the winning applicant specifically named on the application and cannot be transferred to anyone else.
All plates remain the property of the RMV, including after registration.
Customers are encouraged to visit the RMV’s website or follow @MassRMV on X for additional details about the lottery. In addition, lottery plate applicants will be sent a notification from the RMV to the email address they provided with lottery event details.
Daily News editor Dave Rogers contributed to this report.