DMV Already Issuing State IDs To Voters | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

State agency also testing new customer-service measures

    RALEIGH     The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles issued photo IDs to 99 voters during the first nine days of the new year, a move that could indicate voters are preparing for the new requirement even though it does not take effect until 2016.

    "The first three days, we had 75," said Marge Howell, a DMV spokeswoman. "It's gone up." Meantime, DMV is implementing several measures to improve customer service, including concierge-like service at a few offices.

    The N.C. General Assembly passed, and Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law, a sweeping new election law that among other things requires voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls. However, the photo ID requirement doesn't take effect until the 2016 primary and general elections.

    Acceptable IDs include an N.C. Driver's license, an N.C. special ID card, a U.S. passport, a U.S. military ID card, a veterans ID card containing a photo, or a tribal enrollment card issued by a federally recognized tribe or a tribe recognized by the state of North Carolina.

    Voters who move from out of state can use a driver's license or special ID card issued by another state, the District of Columbia, or a territory or commonwealth of the United States if the voter's registration was valid within 90 days of the election.

    Voters older than 70 can use any of those cards if they had not expired on the day the voter reached the age of 70.

    People who don't have any of the acceptable photo IDs can get a card at the DMV, and the DMV will waive the fees for those getting card for the purpose of voting. Fees also will be waived to get certified birth certificates and marriage licenses from state or county offices if the documents are for the purpose of obtaining a photo ID to vote.

    Former state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, who resigned her seat last year, said she is glad voters already are getting their photo IDs. She said she has been speaking to groups about the election law changes. She said she wants to work with churches and other organizations to help spread the message about the new law.

    "I think that's pretty impressive, actually, being that you don't have to have them 'til 2016," Kinnaird said. "I think 99 is pretty good."

    Howell said the DMV is taking steps to make getting a driver's license or photo ID card more customer-friendly. Those include adding hours at 19 DMV offices across the state. Eleven offices are open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, and an additional eight are open on the first Saturday of every month from 8 a.m. to noon, Howell said.

    Some offices are open an additional hour weekday afternoons.

    Howell said 20,798 transactions have taken place since March 2013, when the extended Saturday hours were instituted.

    The DMV also is conducting pilot projects at two Wake County DMV sites meant to improve customer service statewide.

    "We're really working in two offices right now to try to see exactly what works before we tweak it all over the state," Howell said.

    Any person entering one of the two pilot DMV offices is met by an employee who asks "what kind of service we can provide," Howell said.

    The employee directs the customer to the right place after making sure the customer has the necessary documents to receive an ID or driver license.

    "In these pilot offices, they're using kiosks near the front door," Howell said. If the customer is missing a document required for identification purposes, such as a utility bill, he or she can go to a computer at the kiosk and print it, Howell said.

    Howell said that the efforts at the two pilot offices appear to be reducing wait times by 21 minutes, or about 50 percent.

    "I'm very pleased that they're doing that," Kinnaird said of the customer-service improvements.

    Daniel Keylin, a spokesman for the N.C. Republican Party, said the party at the local level would inform voters of the new law as part of voter registration efforts.

    "I'm sure Democrats will be doing the same thing," Keylin said.

    "Most people already have a form of photo ID," Keylin said. "It's a small percentage of folks that don't."