[HN Gopher] DHS announces extension of Real ID full enforcement ...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       DHS announces extension of Real ID full enforcement deadline
        
       Author : bookofjoe
       Score  : 66 points
       Date   : 2022-12-05 18:09 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.dhs.gov)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.dhs.gov)
        
       | mynameisvlad wrote:
       | Real ID was originally supposed to take in effect in 2008, so
       | it's been delayed 17 years at this point, which is absurd. It was
       | created 20 years before it would take effect.
       | 
       | Why is it still being pursued?
        
         | helpfulclippy wrote:
         | Because the feds are very patient about these things. They knew
         | that with consistent pressure, the holdout states would trickle
         | on board, which is exactly what has happened. A couple states
         | like Oregon held out until just the past few years, but now
         | even they will give you a REAL ID.
        
         | Arrath wrote:
         | I feel like the "It is 2386, the government sends its annual
         | delegation to Brussels to ask for a Brexit Extension. The
         | people know not why, only that it is sacred tradition." meme
         | applies here. The delay in implementation is ridiculous,
         | bordering parody if we didn't know it was real life.
        
           | noodlesUK wrote:
           | I wish this were the case with brexit.
        
         | somrand0 wrote:
         | because as the world becomes a more chaotic and unstable place,
         | the price of freedom (which is risk) also increases.
         | 
         | I think that maybe "real ID" has been delayed because USA truly
         | has been the most free country on earth (at the cost of poorer
         | places not near the USA). And this kind of policy diminishes
         | people's freedom. However given the current climate scenario,
         | as well as the current geopolitical looming war.
         | 
         | So that's why it's being pursued, because more chaos, less
         | stability in the system, raises the cost of freedom, and the
         | system has to know whose insurance premiums to raise. You gotta
         | track and measure the people to do this (i.e. to control them).
        
         | rtkwe wrote:
         | DHS still wants to have more secure and validated IDs but
         | states aren't issuing them as default so a lot of people take
         | the easier licensing/ID option when they renew. My state, NC,
         | doesn't issue them as default or even really push them at all.
         | So the problem at the federal level is you have states and
         | people not getting the IDs so making the transition to
         | requiring REAL ID for flights etc would be potentially very
         | disruptive.
        
           | mynameisvlad wrote:
           | I mean, I get that DHS still wants it, but... Why?
           | 
           | It might have made sense in 2005 with the post-2001 political
           | climate, but it's 20 years later. We've been fine with the
           | current IDs for so long, and the climate is not anywhere near
           | the same now as it was then with relation to security
           | theater.
        
             | rtkwe wrote:
             | Well at this point AFAIK it's a legal requirement that they
             | do it. To fully cancel it would require action by congress
             | to remove the program all together, I'm willing to bet (but
             | not willing to find the language) that DHS can extend
             | implementation but not cancel it.
        
               | rolph wrote:
               | apparently the only way to cancel it is to refuse to use
               | it, en masse, its the low adoption rate by end user that
               | keeps the deadline being kicked down the road
        
           | mistrial9 wrote:
           | California has had problems with large scale ID
           | counterfeiting, which they really, really do not want to talk
           | about
           | 
           | Second item is an analogy.. when cash for transit here was
           | changing to an electronic ID, the BART transit agency found
           | excuse after excuse to delay.. later, a finance officer said
           | in a public forum "we have a cash flow and we control that"
           | .. much later, things changed somewhat. I believe that
           | Federal vs State govt is simply at odds over the endless
           | self-employment of administering these ID programs, and who
           | calls the shots... and they should be ! Fed growth is
           | virtually a one-way ratchet in practice.
        
           | sylens wrote:
           | This is it. States need to rip the band-aid off (or be forced
           | to) so that people will be forced to get a Real ID at their
           | next license renewal. Only then will this deadline pass
           | without being extended
        
             | Ancalagon wrote:
             | Great for some but you know arizona doesnt require I renew
             | my license until the 2050's
        
           | elashri wrote:
           | Not only this, Things are very confusing for people. During
           | checking at my last flight I asked the officer about if Ohio
           | ID would be sufficient for the real ID requirement. She
           | couldn't answer because she didn't know how they issue it
           | these days. If this a TSA officer, what about ordinary
           | people?
        
             | ianferrel wrote:
             | I think this is one of those cases where you didn't ask the
             | right question. The TSA officer of course doesn't know the
             | ID issue policies of 50+ ID-issuing regions.
             | 
             | If you had asked "How do I know if my ID meets the Real ID
             | requirements", the answer is very simple: "It has an image
             | of a star on the top of the ID".
        
               | elashri wrote:
               | >I think this is one of those cases where you didn't ask
               | the right question. The TSA officer of course doesn't
               | know the ID issue policies of 50+ ID-issuing regions.
               | 
               | I thought that because it was a (main) Ohio airport, this
               | will be an appropriate question but probably you are
               | right.
               | 
               | >If you had asked "How do I know if my ID meets the Real
               | ID requirements", the answer is very simple: "It has an
               | image of a star on the top of the ID".
               | 
               | I was asking this question so that I can decide if it is
               | worth getting one because I don't want to keep using my
               | passport on domestic flights (risking it getting lost,
               | and heache to have a replacement outside my home
               | country).
        
               | mynameisvlad wrote:
               | > the answer is very simple: "It has an image of a star
               | on the top of the ID".
               | 
               | Or an American Flag _somewhere_ on the ID (mine is
               | randomly next to my photo), for the few states that only
               | issue Real ID-compatible IDs in the form of EDL /EIDs.
               | Looking at you, Washington.
               | 
               | And the star can be:
               | 
               | > gold or black star, a white star in a gold or black
               | circle, a white star in a gold bear in the case of
               | California, or a white star in a gold state map in the
               | case of Maine.
               | 
               | It's so absurdly complicated. As someone else said it'd
               | be fantastic parody if it weren't real life.
        
               | throw7 wrote:
               | NY also has that 'American Flag' for an 'enhanced' ID.
               | FYI, the 'enhanced' is only valid for land or sea
               | crossings into canada/mexico/some caribbean destionations
               | (you can't fly into those countries).
               | 
               | You have to go to the DMV for 'real id or enhanced' so I
               | won't be getting one anytime soon until they force it on
               | me. I have a passport for travel anyway.
        
               | mynameisvlad wrote:
               | I believe the US flag is common to all EDLs, that's their
               | version of the gold star.
               | 
               | What I meant by that statement is that Washington, unlike
               | New York, _only_ has EDLs available as a Real ID-
               | compliant option. There are two options:  "Unreal" DL or
               | EDL. So there is no gold star at all for some states,
               | they _just_ have the US flag to denote something
               | compatible with Real ID.
        
         | riffic wrote:
         | terrists.
         | 
         | which these days are likely to be citizens. See this weekend's
         | domestic terrorism event involving power substances being shot
         | at in North Carolina:
         | 
         | https://www.wsj.com/articles/attack-on-north-carolina-power-...
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | somrand0 wrote:
       | why isn't a human being enough? why do we require a paper trail
       | to what is already here?
       | 
       | because we prefer to own things. it's always been all about whose
       | is what. that's what any national ID says: "this person belongs
       | to country which issued their passport".
       | 
       | but then, if I am really a free human being, why must I be
       | treated as my country's property?
        
       | alexb_ wrote:
       | The fact that the US Government does not have an actual ID card
       | is absurd. A lot of problems - especially voting related ones! -
       | can be solved by having an actual method of identification (not
       | SSN). We're the only country where this is still a problem.
        
         | HeavenFox wrote:
         | One underappreciated benefit of the lack of national ID is it
         | forces the system to deal with a plethora of different IDs, and
         | therefore makes the lives of those with rare forms of ID (such
         | as foreigners) much simpler.
        
           | lxgr wrote:
           | A nice idea, but in my experience that's not the case.
           | 
           | Quite a lot of financial institutions will still only accept
           | a US state-issued driver's license to open an account with
           | them, even though they generally accept foreigners.
           | 
           | I've even encountered one that accepts _only_ driver 's
           | licenses and not (also DMV-issued) learner's permits or non-
           | driving IDs!
        
         | SoftTalker wrote:
         | Voting is a state concern. The federal government isn't really
         | involved, certainly not at the level of identifying voters.
        
         | marsven_422 wrote:
        
         | asveikau wrote:
         | ID cards to vote would disproportionately obstruct legitimate
         | voting of older people and racial minorities.
         | 
         | You need to understand that adding barriers to vote in the US
         | has a 100+ year history of nefarious things like preventing
         | eligible black people from voting as their primary purpose,
         | then a firm understanding of the motives of such modern
         | discussions falls quickly into place. Silly people who complain
         | about "wokeness", maybe many of them here on HN, will say I'm
         | being paranoid or outdated in that description, but the history
         | is dark, ugly, and very real.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | thewrongthinker wrote:
           | That is not an argument. The same way wokes say "look at
           | Europe" when it comes to healthcare, conservatives say "look
           | at Europe" when it comes to id cards.
           | 
           | All through the EU, id cards are the norm. If we can do it,
           | so can you. This whole "but think of the black people" is bs.
           | What are you, some kind of racist? You don't think black
           | people can get ids?
        
             | kelnos wrote:
             | I am usually very agreeable toward arguments of the form
             | "all of Europe does X, so it's ridiculous to assume the US
             | can't too". This is one of the cases where that's not true.
             | ID requirements have been used for centuries in the US to
             | disenfranchise various groups of voters. That's fact. If
             | you know of a specific way to enforce strong ID
             | requirements while somehow changing culture and politics
             | dramatically for a huge swath of people such that this
             | disenfranchisement stops being a problem, by all means,
             | please let us know. Otherwise, your idea will not work.
        
             | asveikau wrote:
             | Obviously there's no shortage of ugly history in Europe,
             | but Europe doesn't have this particular historical context.
             | I _would_ expect Europeans to be naive about this. I 've
             | had this discussion before.
             | 
             | > You don't think black people can get ids?
             | 
             | Statistically, they are less likely to do so.
             | 
             | Edit: For me, an eye opening tidbit was this admission by a
             | Republican strategist that the late 20th century discourse
             | was about shifting from overt language about racism to more
             | covert, abstract, economic talking points that are still
             | rooted in racism. This is a left wing source but has the
             | actual audio recording of that admission.
             | https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-
             | atwa... -- the takeaway is that you can't take a surface
             | level read on a proposal and trust that no direct mention
             | of race implies that it is not racist.
             | 
             | I think what Atwater predicted in this clip somewhat came
             | true. Enough time has passed that young people have
             | unironically embraced the dog whistles as idealized
             | abstractions about small government and economics, states
             | rights or federalism, without realizing they used to be dog
             | whistles and not genuinely held when popularized.
        
               | thewrongthinker wrote:
               | > Statistically, they are less likely to do so.
               | 
               | Holy shit mate, do you hear your self? This is literally
               | 13/52 talk.
               | 
               | Black people can get ids, they should get ids, just like
               | everyone does in every other civilised country. I
               | honestly can't understand how anyone can oppose such a
               | simple and natural thing.
        
               | asveikau wrote:
               | https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-
               | legislation-...
               | 
               | > Minority voters disproportionately lack ID. Nationally,
               | up to 25% of African- American citizens of voting age
               | lack government-issued photo ID, compared to only 8% of
               | whites.
               | 
               | I did not make up the statistic.
               | 
               | I do not endorse it or wish it to continue, but
               | numerically, that is what it is. This is probably the
               | largest reason _one side_ of the American political
               | spectrum, the one who would benefit from lower racial
               | minority turnout, supports tightening the laws.
               | 
               | In tight elections like we routinely have, that
               | statistical disparity can be enough to alter electoral
               | outcomes.
        
         | digianarchist wrote:
         | After moving to the US from Canada it's pretty shocking the
         | number of institutions that do not accept either your passport
         | or a federally issued ID (TTP) as valid identification.
         | 
         | Everyone wants a state ID such as a driver's license to open
         | bank accounts online.
         | 
         | This Real ID deadline has made it a massive pain to get a
         | California DL and of course California doesn't allow exchange
         | of a Canadian Provincial DL unlike the reverse.
        
           | bombcar wrote:
           | Almost everywhere I've been will accept a US passport with
           | prodding, but online "instant verification" systems are
           | universally shitty.
        
             | digianarchist wrote:
             | That's the one ID a Canadian citizen isn't able to get.
        
         | worldsavior wrote:
         | ID card is not needed. There is no reason to hold one since
         | they already have access to your data, and authenticate by your
         | picture and other. Using a card just allows more fraud crimes,
         | something that is already very bad in the US.
        
           | toomuchtodo wrote:
           | Great observation. It's why TSA is moving to facial
           | biometrics. Less need for ID and suboptimal human evaluation
           | of person->ID.
           | 
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33865633
        
             | worldsavior wrote:
             | This is a great security measure. Tho it's pretty privacy
             | invasive in some aspects, but otherwise it's good.
        
         | indymike wrote:
         | Delegating ID to states (ID & driver's license) and states
         | delegating to local jurisdictions (birth certificate) for
         | identity actually makes sense. At the Federal level, they
         | confirm and issue IDs for employees, people who work at Federal
         | locations, and people who want to travel outside the US.
        
         | phpisthebest wrote:
         | Sorry I like federalism, and oppose a centralized state. the
         | Federal government in the US has WAY WAY WAY too much power now
        
         | jasonwatkinspdx wrote:
         | I agree it's a silly situation, but there is no problem with
         | voter fraud in the US. What happens is a minuscule portion of
         | votes.
         | 
         | But if you're unfamiliar, I'll explain that a common
         | evangelical christian belief is that a national ID card may be
         | somehow related to the "mark of the beast" stuff in
         | revelations. And then you also have the far right nationalist
         | types that see it as an initial step in taking away their guns
         | and freedom.
         | 
         | These fears are of course silly but hold enough political power
         | we're stuck in the situation.
        
           | gjsman-1000 wrote:
           | > But if you're unfamiliar, I'll explain that a common
           | evangelical christian belief is that a national ID card may
           | be somehow related to the "mark of the beast" stuff in
           | revelations.
           | 
           | This is a parody by non-Christians of what most of them
           | actually believe. For most of them the concern is over
           | microchips, implants, or something physically on their
           | person, not an ID Card, and even there is not uniform concern
           | over it. Revelations itself says that it will be on their
           | right hand or forehead, which no ID Card is. One could argue
           | that it is a foreshadowing of things to come, if not itself
           | it.
           | 
           | As for where the concern comes from, it's not the ID itself,
           | as much as the implication that in the future, people will be
           | required to commit apostasy in order to get an ID, or the
           | chip, or whatever have you. Thus, they are opposed, so as to
           | prevent such a lockout.
        
             | p_j_w wrote:
             | GP didn't say the ID was the mar of the beast, only that it
             | was related to it. Having grown up in an evangelical
             | household, I very much disagree that what he's said is a
             | parody of what evangelicals believe. He is spot on.
        
               | adamrezich wrote:
               | you have directly experienced Christians directly
               | expressing aversion to non-bodily-invasive state or
               | federal ID, specifically on Christian grounds?
        
               | badwolf wrote:
               | It really isn't that uncommon of a belief.
        
               | adamrezich wrote:
               | really? still, to this day? one would think that
               | evangelical Christians would skew conservative, and
               | therefore be in _favor_ of state /federal ID, for
               | election security purposes.
        
               | mikeyouse wrote:
               | These people are extremely conservative - well past
               | treating "election security" as a primary concern and far
               | closer to "welcoming the return of Jesus / the rapture"
               | as their single motivating force. They'll of course
               | support most other conservative causes, but only so far
               | as they don't conflict with salvation.
        
               | TylerE wrote:
               | Yes. The Bible Belt is very very real.
        
               | p_j_w wrote:
               | Yes. They (my parents) believed any sort of centralized
               | federal ID was a "slippery slope," though they weren't
               | educated enough to know and use that exact phrase,
               | towards an implanted chip, barcode tattoo, or whatever
               | form they were convinced it would take.
        
               | xnyan wrote:
               | Yes, frequently. It's not uncommon at all where I was
               | raised (US South). We can talk to my father, or almost
               | any member of his congregation, about how a national ID
               | is a government plot to identify, control and harm the
               | faithful.
        
               | spoilqueue wrote:
               | I certainly have. Multiple times.
        
             | woodruffw wrote:
             | Genuine questions: (1) what about obtaining an ID would
             | somehow imply the need to commit apostasy and, as an
             | extension (2) what about that would be unique versus, say,
             | obtaining car insurance or a bank account?
             | 
             | Even assuming an eschatological evangelical worldview, it
             | isn't immediately clear to me what _distinguishes_ IDs from
             | any other engagement in society.
        
               | politician wrote:
               | Let me try to explain. The government of that time will
               | say that you must publicly affirm your association with
               | the beast to receive an identifier. The placement of the
               | identifier on your hand or forehead will itself be
               | positioned as a continual affirmation of your association
               | with Team Beast. So, if you are wearing it then you are
               | proclaiming your association with the beast. The beast is
               | described as hating God and hating Christians and
               | persecuting them. If you wear its badge (mark), then you
               | would be affirming those actions.
               | 
               | This, obviously, creates a problem for Christians who are
               | commanded to love God and to love others.
               | 
               | If it was just an identifier that held no other meaning,
               | then it's fine, but it's called the "mark of the beast"
               | and it's described as a literal badge of association with
               | this creature. It's not just a bank account number.
               | 
               | Hope that helps. If not, just imagine how odious it would
               | be, especially to Democrats, if Republicans made it a
               | requirement to wear your MAGA hat to buy food.
        
               | yucky wrote:
               | _" In order to have a valid citizenship ID you must
               | submit to your biannual Multivax Booster+ Gold (or
               | Platinum) plan sponsored by Pfizer"_
               | 
               | I'm agnostic and always found these sorts of religious
               | doomsday proclamations to be exaggerations, but after
               | seeing what the masses have openly embraced over the last
               | 2 years I know I was wrong. It hasn't made me religious,
               | but I can definitely see their concern for being forced
               | into any number of situations in order to fully
               | participate in society.
               | 
               | It's not worth it.
        
           | pessimizer wrote:
           | What's so bad about _the situation_?
        
             | Godel_unicode wrote:
             | There are a large number of people stuck in semi-permanent
             | limbo because their disjointed federal IDs don't agree
             | about some combination of birthday, spelling of name, etc.
             | I have a friend who fills out their taxes with a birthday
             | which is not their birthday because they can't get the SSA
             | change the date on file(they insist the state must be wrong
             | and that the state should change). Getting a passport
             | required months of effort and ultimately a lawyer because
             | the federal and state documents disagree.
             | 
             | Having one master citizen record would allow us to have one
             | place to make changes and one group to appeal to when
             | fixing errors.
             | 
             | Also, to be super clear, all Americans already have at
             | least one federal ID, it's just a bad one. Let's make it
             | less bad.
        
         | dotBen wrote:
         | No, UK not only has no ID card but also doesn't have the
         | equivalent of an SSN. The National Insurance number serves the
         | same primary purpose as SSN, for associating tax payments, but
         | it doesn't otherwise serve as a unique identifier for each
         | citizen - it's not used on credit card applications for
         | example. UK has lower %age of drivers than US due to strong
         | public transport, so mandating a drivers license for ID isn't
         | feasible.
         | 
         | The UK just bought in new ID rules for voting which bizarrely
         | allow for things like a senior citizen rail card to be used.
         | (it's being brought in by our conservative government for same
         | reason as US - to disenfranchise certain voter blocks - hence
         | why a senior citizen rail card is fine but a youth or normal
         | adult one is not)
        
           | wdb wrote:
           | Voting is pretty bizarre. I voted for some local elections
           | and they didn't even check my ID. I had to tell my name they
           | checked my name on the list and I could vote. I could then
           | come back a few hours later again in name of a flat mate of
           | who was on vacation.
        
           | stonemetal12 wrote:
           | In the US we say "driver's license" because 90+% of the
           | population has one, but the portion of the population who
           | doesn't wish to drive can get a State ID card. The only
           | difference between an ID card and a driver's license is on
           | the back where it lists what types of vehicles you are
           | allowed to drive and what types of restrictions have been
           | placed on your driving them.
           | 
           | In the UK how do you prevent minors from buying alcohol if
           | you don't have some sort of ID with DOB on it?
        
             | was_a_dev wrote:
             | If they have no ID, no sale
        
           | was_a_dev wrote:
           | > The UK just bought in new ID rules for voting which
           | bizarrely allow for things like a senior citizen rail card to
           | be used.
           | 
           | Yepp, Oyster 60+ Card is valid for voting, but a Student 18+
           | Card isn't
        
           | ZanyProgrammer wrote:
           | Ok but the UK is also an outlier.
        
         | rwbt wrote:
         | I'd rather have a federated ID system like what we have
         | currently with state drivers licenses/voter id systems. Social
         | Security Number/TIN is already used as a unique identifier for
         | all financial transactions anyways.
         | 
         | It's messy and complex at times, but in the long run I'd rather
         | deal with a bunch of small state level bureaucracies than a
         | giant federal behemoth that barely functions (looking at you
         | IRS).
        
           | xxpor wrote:
           | The single time I've ever had an issue with the IRS - I
           | forgot to sign a 1080X - They sent me a letter, I signed it,
           | and everything was perfectly fine. They collect a massive
           | amount of payments and paperwork every year. I don't know how
           | you could say they're barely functioning.
           | 
           | The DMV on the other hand is _the_ joke in American culture
           | about incompetent bureaucracies.
        
             | rwbt wrote:
             | Count yourself very lucky that you never had an issue with
             | the IRS. I had to deal with a mistake that the IRS made
             | erroneously and even after 4 years it is still not
             | resolved. Every 6 months I get a letter that the IRS still
             | hasn't bothered to look into it and I'm guessing they
             | likely never will.
             | 
             | DMV is the butt of all the jokes, but atleast you can walk
             | into a DMV office and a real person, however annoyed they
             | might be will try to help you.
        
           | woodruffw wrote:
           | Is the IRS well known as a barely functioning behemoth?
           | There's no shortage of animus towards them, but it's
           | generally seemed closer to "I don't like the agency that
           | takes my money" than "this agency is incompetent."
        
             | ohgodplsno wrote:
             | Behemoth ? yes.
             | 
             | Impractical for US citizens ? yes.
             | 
             | Barely functioning ? The IRS will find you halfway across
             | the world for an unpaid $20.
        
               | jeltz wrote:
               | Isn't a lot of the reason that they are impractical that
               | there are powerful organizations lobbying for taxes to be
               | painful and complicated to pay. E.g. Turbotax and the
               | Americans for Tax Reform
        
             | rwbt wrote:
             | They're seriously understaffed. Forget about the partisan
             | politics for the reasons behind it but a terrible side
             | effect of this lack of resources is that they only go after
             | the low hanging fruits to audit. Like Joey Banana who
             | forgot to report a few hundred dollars of income will get
             | audited but complicated tax evasion schemes go unaudited.
        
               | woodruffw wrote:
               | I agree with that, thank you for clarifying!
        
           | anikom15 wrote:
           | I'm Californian and I have a much easer time dealing with
           | Federal departments than state departments. For one, Federal
           | websites actually work properly.
        
         | yieldcrv wrote:
         | There is a passport card
         | 
         | But it is pretty useless, I didnt renew mine with the renewal
         | of my passport book
         | 
         | Can be used at bars and domestic travel and with employer
         | verification, but not international _air_ travel which is the
         | main reason i would have it
        
           | jsmith45 wrote:
           | Amusingly ICAO (the UN aviation standardizations
           | organization) has specified the ID card format for Machine
           | Readable (Official) Travel Documents. And the passport card
           | conforms to those specifications. But the only use of it that
           | they officially encourage countries to accept is the Crew
           | Member Certificate.
           | 
           | In all other cases, acceptance would be based on agreements
           | between the involved countries. In theory, any country could
           | choose to accept any such document without an agreement, but
           | they have little reason to do so, and it is not really
           | compatible with paper visas. Furthermore, they should refuse
           | it if there are unmatched conditions printed on the back of
           | the card, like the passport cards have. The result is that
           | they are of pretty limited use, and most countries that do
           | use them will restrict them to specific scenarios where there
           | are agreements in place.
        
         | noncoml wrote:
         | UK doesn't have ID either, but I think most European countries
         | do
        
           | jeltz wrote:
           | The UK used to have an ID but the conservatives scrapped it.
        
             | switch007 wrote:
             | There was legislation, some slow movements towards ID, but
             | nothing really happened. The general public weren't
             | required to carry ID. But yes the conservative and Lib Dem
             | coalition repealed it
             | 
             | > Only workers in certain high-security professions, such
             | as airport workers, were required to have an identity card
             | in 2009,[clarification needed] and this general lack of
             | compulsory ID remains the case today.
             | 
             | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_Cards_Act_2006
        
         | branon wrote:
         | The feds do not need every citizen to hold an ID card, even if
         | they might be trying to convince you otherwise.
         | 
         | Hailing this as necessary to prevent voter fraud is just as
         | preposterous as the mark-of-the-beast nonsense covered by
         | another child comment.
         | 
         | The current federated system using state drivers' licenses
         | seems fine to me, it's been functional through all of RealID's
         | delays.
        
           | wdb wrote:
           | I think a ID card is easier than a driver's license. Not
           | everyone needs or wants a driver's license. If you don't have
           | a driver's license, how can you vote in the US? Do you need a
           | passport?
        
             | MatthewMcDonald wrote:
             | You can get a non-driver id card from the same department
             | that issues driver licenses in your state
        
             | SoftTalker wrote:
             | It depends where you are. Some states, like mine, require
             | ID to vote. Some don't. Some have strict rules on absentee
             | ballots. Others allow "vote by mail" or ballot drop boxes.
        
             | throwaway742 wrote:
             | I just filled out a piece of paper to register to vote,
             | mailed it in, and then when I showed up at my polling place
             | I signed next to my name on the voter roles. Post covid
             | they they just mail you a ballot now and you mail it back
             | or take it to a drop box. If you want to vote in person you
             | take your mail-in ballot and surrender it and they give you
             | a regular ballot.
        
           | ohgodplsno wrote:
           | Pretty much every functioning democracy in the world has a
           | national ID system, because that's how any functioning
           | country works. The US is not special in that regard. In fact,
           | most major countries in the world without an ID system are...
           | all former colonies of the UK.
           | 
           | But I guess you can keep on being scared of leaking your SSN
           | (that everyone unofficially uses as an ID anyways) and keep
           | on using different cards depending on the state. There's a
           | reason identity theft is so prevalent in the US, and pretty
           | much nowhere else in the world.
        
             | Godel_unicode wrote:
             | > identity theft is so prevalent in the US, and pretty much
             | nowhere else in the world.
             | 
             | That's decidedly untrue.
             | 
             | https://focusonbusiness.eu/en/news/one-in-five-europeans-
             | hav...
        
               | sofixa wrote:
               | I don't see their methodology but this sounds absurd.
               | Half of UK's citizens have experienced identity fraud?
               | Highly suspicious numbers.
        
               | lxgr wrote:
               | The consequences of identity theft in many EU countries
               | are dramatically less severe than in the US, though.
               | 
               | This is mostly due to not using a short, immutable
               | identifier (like the US SSN) effectively as a bearer
               | token, as far as I can tell.
               | 
               | Even getting a copy (or even the original!) of somebody's
               | passport or driver's license is not enough to open a bank
               | account or a credit card in many EU countries; in
               | Germany, you need to actually appear in front of a bank
               | employee (or subcontractor), personally or in a video
               | chat, verify your identity, and confirm your intention to
               | open a new account.
        
             | bananapub wrote:
             | > Pretty much every functioning democracy in the world has
             | a national ID system,
             | 
             | is that true?
             | 
             | I know Australia, UK, Ireland, US, don't have a national
             | ID, while almost all EU countries do. What does it look
             | like elsewhere?
        
             | WirelessGigabit wrote:
             | Living in the USA not having to carry an ID all the time is
             | a breath of fresh air. Not having to call the cops to tell
             | them I moved to that their records are up to date and so
             | that they can come to my place of residence to see whether
             | I actually live there is a breath of fresh air.
             | 
             | I don't want to government to know that much about me. It
             | has been proven over and over that less is better.
        
               | outworlder wrote:
               | > Not having to call the cops to tell them I moved to
               | that their records are up to date and so that they can
               | come to my place of residence to see whether I actually
               | live there is a breath of fresh air.
               | 
               | Eh. In most states you are required to get a new DL if
               | you move. So, in fact, you _have to_ tell the state where
               | you live.
               | 
               | Whereas with a national ID, that wouldn't be tied to a
               | place of residence.
        
               | dragonwriter wrote:
               | > Whereas with a national ID, that wouldn't be tied to a
               | place of residence.
               | 
               | Why would you assume that? our current substitute for a
               | national ID (state issued ID compliant with the federal
               | REAL ID Act) requires current address, and has higher
               | standards for proof of address than many pre-REAL ID
               | state IDs did.
        
               | everforward wrote:
               | Can't reply to toomuchtodo so dropping this here; your
               | passport is tied to your address via your SSN which is
               | tied to tax returns. They frankly probably know where you
               | live better than the state you reside in. I know lots of
               | people that haven't updated the address on their driver's
               | license, but I don't know anyone that gives the IRS an
               | incorrect address.
        
               | throwaway742 wrote:
               | Not everyone files a tax return.
        
               | toomuchtodo wrote:
               | My passport and global entry card do not require a
               | physical address. Just give me a US version of Estonia's
               | identity smart card and make it work with Login.gov.
        
               | throwaway742 wrote:
               | If you just get a state ID card and not a DL there is no
               | requirement to update your address.
        
               | sagarm wrote:
               | Having a national ID and carrying it are two separate
               | things. Many Americans already have a national ID
               | (passport) and do not carry it.
               | 
               | Conversely, the most common state ID (driver's license)
               | is effectively mandatory to carry at all times for most
               | Americans because it is required to drive a motor vehicle
               | and driving a motor vehicle is required to move around
               | outside of major urban areas.
        
           | tzs wrote:
           | > Hailing this as necessary to prevent voter fraud is just as
           | preposterous as the mark-of-the-beast nonsense covered by
           | another child comment.
           | 
           | It's not needed to prevent voter fraud in the US because
           | there is very little voter fraud to prevent. What it could
           | help with is reducing voter suppression.
           | 
           | Several states, claiming that it is necessary to prevent
           | fraud (which they cannot actually find any significant
           | examples of) have instituted voter ID requirements.
           | 
           | In many of these there has been a pretty good correlation
           | between what ID they accept and whether or not the people who
           | tend to vote for the party enacting the ID require are more
           | likely to already have that form of ID than the people who
           | tend to vote for the other party.
           | 
           | These are often accompanied by changes to how IDs are issued
           | that make it significantly harder for many people who vote
           | for the other party to obtain ID. For example, state IDs are
           | often issued by the same department that issues driver's
           | licenses. Some states, citing budget issues, have closed such
           | offices, with the closures hitting hardest is largely
           | minority areas, and reduced hours in the offices remaining
           | open eliminating weekend and evening hours.
           | 
           | This makes it so that for many people in those areas that
           | lost their offices getting an ID means losing a day of work
           | or more, which many of them cannot afford and so have to give
           | up voting.
           | 
           | A Federal ID that is easy to obtain for all citizens, very
           | cheap or free, and that states are required to accept as
           | voter ID could go a long way to helping eligible voters
           | actually be able to vote.
        
             | andrewflnr wrote:
             | > easy to obtain for all citizens, very cheap or free
             | 
             | This is the key point, though, and harder than it sounds.
             | It needs to be (at least approximately) free-as-in-beer
             | with a small time investment, while still gathering
             | adequate evidence of identity. My best idea is to build it
             | as an outgrowth of the passport infrastructure without the
             | relatively onerous forms and other costs. Doing it through
             | the post office like passports is as good an idea as any,
             | but you need to make sure they all have (working![0])
             | cameras and trained personnel. Not cheap.
             | 
             | I'm all for the idea, I just don't want people to
             | underestimate the difficulty, because that will make it
             | more likely to fail.
             | 
             | [0] When I went to get my passport, the camera at the post
             | office was broken. I had to run across the street to the
             | drug store. Not fatal, but a pain, and not something you
             | could tolerate at scale for voter id.
        
           | Godel_unicode wrote:
           | If you are an American, you already have a federally issued
           | ID it just isn't very good. If you are an American who has
           | traveled internationally you have at least two distinct
           | federally issued IDs, which can get out of sync and cause a
           | huge headache. At least 3 if you ever interacted with the
           | IRS, 4 if you have a KTN, 5 if you have a TSA redress
           | number...
           | 
           | There are plenty of places where just a drivers license isn't
           | acceptable (getting a passport for instance) and requires you
           | to play the stupid 1/2 from category A/B game.
           | 
           | I agree that bringing up voting is a red herring, that's a
           | state thing and the several states should solve that for
           | themselves. The US federal government needs a unified ID
           | system which was designed as a robust, centralized ID system
           | that can then be mandated for federal agencies to use.
        
             | bmitc wrote:
             | > If you are an American who has traveled internationally
             | you have at least two distinct federally issued IDs, which
             | can get out of sync and cause a huge headache.
             | 
             | What IDs are you referring to and what's the headache?
             | Presumably one ID is a passport. From your first sentence,
             | I would assume the second ID is a social security number,
             | but how does it become "out of sync" with a passport?
        
               | iudqnolq wrote:
               | They could mean name changes
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | I know people who have spent literally years trying to
               | correct misspellings and incorrect DOB issues with State
               | and SSA.
               | 
               | Get a passport as a minor, change your name as an adult,
               | realize SSA has your wrong bday, descend into bureaucracy
               | hell as now both name and DOB don't match.
        
               | bmitc wrote:
               | As far as I can tell, birth certificates are issued by
               | states and name changes are done through states, so it
               | isn't clear to me how a name is a federally issued ID or
               | even an ID.
               | 
               | While I am sure the bureaucracy surrounding such
               | discrepancies is enormous, I'm not for sure I understand
               | how it relates to a discussion about national IDs. A
               | passport is effectively an optional national ID, so none
               | of these issues would be solved by a national ID.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | Huh? A name is something which is on a federal ID,
               | obviously it is not in and of itself a federal ID.
               | 
               | The Social Security Administration (SSA) issues IDs at
               | the federal level, which are applied for using state or
               | county issued birth certificates (as well as other ways).
               | They sometimes make clerical errors. Those errors can
               | propagate into other federal identity databases, such as
               | the taxpayer record system operated by the Internal
               | Revenue Service or the passport database operated by the
               | Department of State.
               | 
               | The linkages between these systems are fragile or
               | nonexistent, and if you are not careful about manually
               | propagating changes between them you can end up in an
               | inconsistent state which requires court action to
               | rectify.
               | 
               | Passports are often used in lieu of social security cards
               | because people are (correctly!) leery about using their
               | SSN directly. I know people who have no intention of
               | traveling internationally who have gotten passports
               | because it's extremely convenient to have a federally
               | issued _photo_ id.
        
               | proser wrote:
               | It's worse than that. Birth certificates are issued at
               | the country level.
        
               | bmitc wrote:
               | I think you have a typo and mean county?
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | Except where they aren't.
        
               | halpmeh wrote:
               | If you change your name, which is somewhat common for
               | women to do after marriage.
        
               | bmitc wrote:
               | A name is not a government ID. And aside from mistakes,
               | what is the issue? If you change your name, get a new
               | passport.
        
               | halpmeh wrote:
               | If you change your name, you need to update your
               | information with social security and with the state
               | department. That's how the two IDs can get out of sync.
               | E.g. if someone was like "please bring your social
               | security card and passport for verification" you could
               | potentially have a name mis-match if you only updated
               | your passport but didn't update your social security.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | I haven't had an actual social security card for many
               | decades since having a wallet stolen. And never needed
               | it.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | The fact that you do not physically possess your social
               | security card does not mean that the federal government
               | did not issue you one. So you Have it, you simply don't
               | have it on you.
               | 
               | You haven't needed it since it's such a bad ID that if
               | you know the number you often don't need to possess the
               | paper.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | I've never been asked to present the paper over multiple
               | decades and have never bothered to try to get a
               | replacement.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | This is like saying I drive without taking my drivers
               | license with me.
        
               | bmitc wrote:
               | What scenario do you need to present both a passport and
               | social security card? Those "three column" identification
               | documents that I have seen always accept passports
               | standalone.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | For renewing a driver's license to a RealID-compliant
               | driver's license I did need more than a passport. But I
               | think that was more of a state thing that required a
               | utility bill to my address and maybe something else.
        
               | bmitc wrote:
               | Ah, the ol' utility bill stuff. Lol. Such a pain at
               | times, but I guess I understand for some things where
               | people definitely try to skirt the system where they
               | don't live where they say.
               | 
               | I have neglected to get my state's real ID since it
               | requires me to go into a location, which are soul
               | sucking. Luckily, my global entry card is a Real ID. It
               | only took two years to get that one. And when I had to go
               | in for that ID, they didn't even check my driver's
               | license or passport for ID. They just took my picture and
               | that was it. Pretty poor due diligence.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | Wait until you find out about the photo matching they do
               | to true up license and Global Entry identity. Why have a
               | human (who can be social engineered) do that in person
               | when an algorithm can do it behind the scenes?
        
               | bmitc wrote:
               | Well, I'm not disappointed that they actually did
               | something. If it wasn't clear, I thought not checking was
               | poor procedure, and I guess it makes sense it they have
               | automated procedures. Still doesn't seem right to not
               | have a human validate when it takes no extra time to do
               | so.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | I actually usually use my Global Entry for TSA now. I
               | lost my driver's license once at the airport and my
               | Global Entry card is the federally-accepted ID I don't
               | otherwise actually need.
               | 
               | Funnily enough I was able to fly without an ID when I
               | lost my license--which was surprisingly hassle-free. But
               | I had a hell of a time checking into my hotel.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | The thing that will need to match is the name/DoB on your
               | passport and your file with SSA. You will need them to
               | match when you have to get the window attendant at SSA to
               | help you figure out why your monthly social security
               | check is wrong. Good luck proving you're you when the
               | records are 40 years old and 6 states away.
        
             | kelnos wrote:
             | > _If you are an American, you already have a federally
             | issued ID it just isn't very good._
             | 
             | What ID is that? If you're talking about a Social Security
             | Card, that's not ID at all. I don't think I would call it
             | "ID but not very good", even.
             | 
             | Ultimately there are a lot of people who go through life in
             | the US who never have a federally-issued ID at all. Simply
             | never traveling outside the US will do it for most people.
             | And there are more people than you'd expect in the US who
             | never leave the country.
             | 
             | Also agree re: voting: elections are administered by
             | states, so a federal ID is just not even necessary here.
             | States are perfectly capable of issuing ID, as we all know.
             | (Granted, drivers licenses and non-driving state IDs
             | usually don't have anything to say about citizenship
             | status. A state-issued ID serves as authentication, not
             | authorization, where voting is concerned.)
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | In what way is your social security card not an ID? It is
               | used as a credential to identify yourself, and is one of
               | very few such identifiers that most organizations take
               | (i.e. I can use it to get many other IDs). Many state
               | DMVs list it on a page called "identity documents". All
               | Americans have been issued their card at least once, and
               | more to the point not having the card doesn't mean you
               | don't have the ID as many people will take the number.
               | It's a very weak ID for a lot of reasons, but that fact
               | alone doesn't make it not one. It just makes it a
               | dangerous one.
               | 
               | Why are you against having a good one?
        
               | andrewflnr wrote:
               | Functionally, a social security number is closer to an
               | alternate name than an ID. It doesn't contain evidence
               | that can feasibly be used to prove that the person
               | showing it to you is who they claim to be, the way the
               | picture/physical descriptors on a photo ID card do. And
               | it's not even an unpredictable name, so you can't even
               | treat it the way you would a long unpredictable token in
               | a security context.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | > social security number is closer to an alternate name
               | 
               | `s/is/should be/`
               | 
               | If I have your social security card I can pretend to be
               | you quite effectively as many people will accept it as an
               | ID. They don't care that you don't think it is one. The
               | ones that don't will frequently take an alternative
               | (read: derived) that I can get with just it.
               | 
               | > It doesn't contain evidence that can feasibly be used
               | to prove...
               | 
               | Yes. We agree, it's a bad ID.
        
             | notch656a wrote:
             | Voting ID rules isn't just a state thing. On June 17, 2013,
             | the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states
             | cannot require proof of citizenship in cases of voter
             | registration for federal elections unless the state
             | receives federal or court approval to do so. That is the
             | feds have said the states can't just solve that for
             | themselves.
             | 
             | The state I live in (Arizona) requires proof your presence
             | is authorized to get state ID. If you are a citizen, that
             | means proof of citizenship. But then loop back to supreme
             | court decision above.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | Edit: firstly, this is a distraction (i.e. a red herring)
               | from the debate about national IDs. We have a national ID
               | issue which needs to be fixed.
               | 
               | That ruling doubles down on it being a state thing by
               | saying leave citizenship (which is a federal thing) out
               | of it. If a state creates for itself a catch-22, that is
               | the states fault and is therefore the states
               | responsibility to fix.
               | 
               | Arizona needs to stop shirking it's responsibility to its
               | residents and come up with a solution to this problem,
               | just like virtually every other state has.
        
               | marssaxman wrote:
               | > We have a national ID issue which needs to be fixed.
               | 
               | What is that issue? It is not apparent to me that REAL ID
               | solves a real problem.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | Who said anything about REALID solving the national ID
               | problem? We need to replace SSNs with a modern identity
               | system.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | kelnos wrote:
               | What's the solution, though? I live in California, and my
               | state-issued ID doesn't say anything about my US
               | citizenship. When I registered to vote (online), I had to
               | certify that I was eligible to vote. Yes, the penalties
               | for lying are steep, but if the state can't verify if I'm
               | lying or not, how will I get caught?
               | 
               | If SCOTUS says states can't require proof of citizenship
               | for voter registration, how can they exclude non-citizens
               | from voter rolls? The state hasn't created a catch-22;
               | the federal judiciary has told the states that they
               | effectively can't use citizenship as a requirement for
               | voting.
               | 
               | I feel like I'm missing something here, because this
               | can't be the state of things.
               | 
               | > _We have a national ID issue which needs to be fixed._
               | 
               | What issue is this? Why do we need a national ID? What
               | purpose would one serve? Plenty of Americans go through
               | their lives just fine without any sort of federally-
               | issued ID. Pretty much all you have to do is never travel
               | outside the US, and many Americans don't.
        
               | Godel_unicode wrote:
               | > What purpose would one serve?
               | 
               | Aside from the hundreds of other cost-and-convenience
               | reasons, eliminating the SSN (and associated fraud) would
               | be easily worth it on its own.
               | 
               | Even if it were true that plenty of people get through
               | life without a federal ID, that doesn't mean all do. As I
               | have said other places in this thread, the rickety
               | machinery of federal identity replication grinds up
               | plenty of people.
        
       | attah_ wrote:
       | Meanwhile in other countries... Secure, easy-to-obtain, IDs since
       | several decades. Also, an ID is required to vote and since it is
       | secure you don't need any silly voter registration (which is just
       | suppression in the guise of verification).
        
         | themagician wrote:
         | The current system (without Real ID) isn't really any less
         | "secure". All Real ID does is force you to show a citizenship
         | document to travel. It's designed to put pressure on illegal
         | immigrants to self deport and punish States like California for
         | who issue driver's licenses to non-citizens.
         | 
         | There is no automatic reason that Real ID would even be
         | required to vote, since voting is left up to the states anyway.
         | If the state says you can use a business card to vote then you
         | can.
        
       | runako wrote:
       | Real ID was a result of a political climate that envisioned
       | terror attacks as a salient political issue, and that non-US
       | citizens were believed to be the primary terror threat.
       | 
       | It's probably safe to say that we live in a vastly different
       | political climate today.
        
       | n0us wrote:
       | I already had a Real ID but when I moved to New York and went to
       | get my license switched they would not give me another one
       | despite having proof of address, my SSN, my valid passport, and
       | my existing valid Real ID. I have to go back with all of that and
       | pay another $60 or something along with my birth certificate to
       | get a Real ID from the state. Unbelievable hassle to get that
       | thing.
        
       | ars wrote:
       | I got to real ID like 2 years ago, and I had to argue with the
       | DMV guy. He discouraged me from getting it, saying it was
       | unnecessary and I should use a passport instead.
       | 
       | I actually had to argue with him and give him reasons why I
       | wanted it before he would allow me to get it.
        
         | ZanyProgrammer wrote:
         | I had the same experience in spring 2021. Totally obnoxious
         | customer service.
        
       | hprotagonist wrote:
       | At a certain point, one has to suspect that it just ain't gonna
       | happen.
        
         | toast0 wrote:
         | I certainly suspected it. I've declined to get a real ID
         | everytime, because it seems like it won't actually be required,
         | and if it is, I have a passport I could carry, and get a real
         | ID for convenience at the next license renewal.
         | 
         | In other words, why pay for it now, if it keeps getting pushed
         | back, and likely will continue to get pushed back.
        
           | rtkwe wrote:
           | Does it cost more for you? My state doesn't charge any more
           | for them you just have to bring the extra documentation which
           | in your case (in my state though I think the requirements are
           | the same everywhere) would be your passport you already have.
        
             | muchosandwich wrote:
             | It cost slightly more for me in CA. And even then I got
             | caught up in the whole DMV documentation snafu even though
             | I brought a dozen identifying documents, so I had to get my
             | REAL ID 3 times over, each at my own expense.
        
               | happyopossum wrote:
               | No - the costs are the same for any ID card, the only
               | difference is if you jump through the extra hoops to have
               | them issue a Real ID:
               | 
               | https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/driver-licenses-
               | identification...
        
             | jaywalk wrote:
             | My state is the same as long as you're doing it with a
             | regular renewal. I did it last time I renewed my license,
             | because I already had a passport. Even though it certainly
             | seems that it'll never be enforced.
        
             | matwood wrote:
             | Yeah, any new license or renewal in my state is a real id.
             | I think it costs the same, but I wasn't sure since it was
             | 10 years since the last time I renewed.
             | 
             | Other than the hassle, is there a reason to not get the new
             | id when license renewals come up?
        
             | canttestthis wrote:
             | WA charges extra, also people on non-immigrant visas cannot
             | get them.
        
               | olyjohn wrote:
               | Well in WA, we already switched to RealID-compliant
               | driver's license numbers, even for standard licenses.
               | Next time your license is renewed, take a look at your
               | license. I didn't even notice this for months after I got
               | my new one. I was filling out a form and I put down the
               | old one since I had it memorized. You still can't use it
               | to cross borders though.
               | 
               | I'm sure this means we will have RealID-compliant cards
               | as the norm here soon.
        
               | happyopossum wrote:
               | > also people on non-immigrant visas cannot get them
               | 
               | Which kinda makes sense as this is intended to be a
               | pseudo-federal ID, right?
        
               | belltaco wrote:
               | Not true, many states give Real IDs to non-immgrants.
        
             | jcalvinowens wrote:
             | In my state (CA) I would have to actually show up to the
             | DMV in person (normally you can renew online). That's
             | inconvenient enough I'm never going to do it, if they start
             | requiring "real ID" I'll just use my passport.
        
               | ZanyProgrammer wrote:
               | If you have to carry your passport around for things
               | other than foreign travel there's a greater risk of
               | losing it.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | If I'm traveling by air, I usually carry my passport as
               | backup ID--especially after somehow losing my license
               | once between the car and the counter at the airport. My
               | Global Entry card is probably sufficient backup to be
               | honest but I also have backup credit cards etc. anyway.
        
               | jcalvinowens wrote:
               | I always travel with it, personally. It's useful in other
               | ways too, for example people in rural parts of the US can
               | be weird about out-of-state IDs (I look young...).
        
             | toast0 wrote:
             | I live in WA, so it (currently) costs $7/year extra for an
             | enhanced drivers license. I'll just have an unreal ID,
             | until the mandate is real for me.
        
               | mynameisvlad wrote:
               | There is an additional benefit with the EDL, which is
               | that you can go up to Canada and back with just the EDL,
               | since it also is proof of citizenship. Whether that is
               | worth an additional $7/year is debatable, but it's
               | similar to the price of a Passport Card, which is
               | equivalent.
        
               | toast0 wrote:
               | Could be useful, if I did that often (or at all, but it
               | is on my list)
        
       | Msw242 wrote:
       | I can't renew my driver's license online anymore until I prove my
       | citizenship.
       | 
       | Alright, fine, I have my birth certificate, and I took it to the
       | DPS.
       | 
       | Well I can't just walk in... I have to make an appointment
       | online. Alright, fine...
       | 
       | But appointments are booked solid for 2 months.
       | 
       | So I guess I'm driving with an expired license until then.
        
         | Minor49er wrote:
         | I brought in multiple documents to prove my identity because I
         | heard a lot of stories of people getting turned down for not
         | having any documents. I also saw it first-hand while waiting at
         | the DMV to renew. I finally get to the front counter. The lady
         | working there eyed my folder of docs, then snarkily said "you
         | know, less is more". I hate the DMV.
        
           | monksy wrote:
           | Tried to get it when changing my address after moving in IL.
           | 
           | Documents weren't perfect. Also you have to let the address
           | settle after moving and getting a new id. (I.e. utility bills
           | that aren't printed out with your address on them)
           | 
           | Short end of the story, I could have done an address change
           | online quicker. Also, use my GE card as my fed id now. (Real
           | Id)
        
         | throwaway742 wrote:
         | If I were you I would print out a copy of my appointment and
         | keep it with my registration.
        
       | battery_glasses wrote:
       | Why not just grand-father in all current state driver's licenses
       | and let the migration happen naturally as people renew?
        
         | suprfsat wrote:
         | If your grandfather had the right to vote without complicated
         | ID requirements, then you do too.
        
       | bmlzootown wrote:
       | Literally stood outside the DMV the other day for more than hour
       | in sub-40F weather to get my real id.
        
       | satya71 wrote:
       | I feel vindicated in skipping the extra evidence for getting a
       | RealID. The new enforcement date is past my renewal date, and I
       | plan to get a non-RealID next time too.
        
       | riffic wrote:
       | just ax the stupid mandate.
        
       | a2tech wrote:
       | Maybe we can just extend it forever and drop it. And dissolve DHS
       | at the same time as well.
        
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       (page generated 2022-12-05 23:01 UTC)