But the voter registration card does not, according to the BMV, have my legal name on it so they did not accept it. Keep in mind - they said the name I’ve been using as my legal name for 30 years, accepted by all levels of government for thirty years is NOT correct. The problem isn’t my address, it’s my name. Which they arbitrarily changed to something I have NEVER used at all, EVER.
AGAIN - the document that lets me get into the airport no longer matches the document that allows me to fly an airplane.
I live alone. I have exactly four living relatives in all the world and the nearest is located in Buffalo, New York. Um… what other people in my house?
I have a brand new lease. Which, of course, I signed with what has been my legal name for THIRTY YEARS. Which the BMW does not accept as my legal name.
It’s not the address that is the problem, it’s the name. Any system that “corrects” a person’s name to something that that person has NEVER used is bullshit.
The “hostility” is because he insists that’s it’s not a problem , it’s a "minimal inconvenience’ while not acknowledging that it is
A ) Very much a problem for some people.
and
B ) The reason it’s not a problem for more is because the requirements have been so watered down that documents are accepted that don’t prove anything. Which means the whole thing is pointless - at best, some of those documents prove that you can collect mail at a particular address and some of them don’t even prove that. OK so I print off my online bank statement - and that proves what? It proves that I gave the bank that address at some point. I didn’t need to show my bank proof of my address when I moved into my house 32 years ago and changed my address with them -and they don’t know if I’ve moved since they went to paperless statements. While simultaneously, my passport is not sufficient as proof of my name - it’s only worth 4 points and I need 6. But my valid or expired for less than 2 years NY license is worth 6 points and I don’t need anything else as proof of my name. But the passport that isn’t sufficient proof for a Real ID will allow me to board a plane without any additional ID.
That certification of residence for NY- a “coworker” or “neighbor” can fill that out. And I put those words in quotes because DMV has no idea if the person signing it is actually my coworker or neighbor or if I gave the homeless guy at Dunkin Donuts a dollar to sign it. And that oath business doesn’t mean a thing- people lie under oath every day. It doesn’t even ask for the address of the person making the certification, or a copy of their ID or for them to appear before a notary - how the hell is anyone going to find the person to punish them armed with only the name on the form? They’re not - and they aren’t even going to try. And anyone can figure that out if they think for half a second.
He’s not coming in here saying " Yeah, it will be difficult or even impossible for some people, but here are ways you can get around it in State X, even though printing an emailed bank statement proves nothing" - I think he would have gotten a much different reaction if he said that.Instead, he’s saying if states ask for your residence, they should be required to verify it ( even if it leads to accepting worthless proof) and doesn’t everyone have a lease ( nope) and aren’t you registered to vote ?
I own my home. We paid off the mortgage years ago. But we never actually got the deed. Yes, of course we should do that. But there were a lot of more urgent things in our lives at the time, and we didn’t have the energy to pursue it, and, you know, it’s not the sort of thing that comes up…
Got married to my first husband, he was Navy. I did not plan on changing my surname, the Navy yeoman doing paperwork sent something to the SS office though the name on the miltary ID I was issued, my drivers license and my passport remained the same as all my assorted security clearances.
So off I go to badge in to work a nuke plant outage … and it gets gigged because my SSN info and none of my ID matches. SO off I go back to Norfolk VA from Asheville NC to sort the issue out. All because someone didn’t believe women should keep their maiden names? I know I never filled out the paperwork nor sent it in …
[I figured it would be easier to keep my maiden name than change it on 3 different clearances, my certifications and my personal documents …]
Basically she said “here is the name you should have changed it to when you got married”. Then more or less implied I’ve been committing fraud all these years. Then told me I had to “fix” the name on everything else because I should have been using the “correct” name all along.
Hah! You’d think it would be, but that boneheaded clerk made it harder.
We’d been told by friends that if I meant to use my married name, I had to bring the marriage certificate to a social security office and get them to change it, otherwise it would slow down our tax return processing. I did, and we had no problems. I actually continued using my maiden name professionally - only switched to the married name when we moved to another state. So they were getting W2s in my maiden name. But it had the right SS number so I guess they were happy.
A friend tried to get married via a justice of the peace in her hometown (small town in mountainous NC). She asked “what do I need to do to keep my maiden name?”. The JP said “you can’t!”. Which was a lie and they knew it. They walked… and got married in a more modern-thinking town in central NC. No problem whatsoever. It turns out that what you have to do is “nothing”. Just don’t change your name anywhere.
When I legally married my same-sex partner, there was a question about whether we would change our names, but no requirement.
I have two middle names, from a legal name change as an adolescent. Different government documents use different middle initials–a decision presumably made by clerks, not by me.
I kept my maiden name, when I got married. Taught an adult education class, the Paymaster called my husband up and asked him if he knew my name was different than his! Anyway I had to go to the SS place to get a replacement card in order to get the “special” license. It’s a pain, but I have a passport to travel
I just renewed my license and opted to not get the RealID since I have never flown, have never left the country and didn’t feel like dealing with the following:
I have my original birth certificate which is really cute because it has my teeny footprint and the state seal on it. But starting about 3 years ago everyone is supposed to get a brand new from the State birth certificate. Not the cute hospital one.
The next question is is my full name different than my birth certificate. Yes, I got married. Which means I have to bring my marriage certificate. Luckily, the Mister just pulled that out. But I am unsure if it is the certified copy or just a signed by the JOP copy.
I do have a current SS card because I got that changed about a week after we were married.
I need 2 documents to establish my address. I have my voter registration card and my DL plus a ton of other options.
My license is good for another 8 years and if this is still a “thing” I may start the process the year before it needs renewing. By then the odds of us going somewhere I would need one will have gone up 2%. The Mister will be closer to retirement and might want to take me to Hawaii, Las Vegas or Florida. But the thought of flying makes me queasy…
The claim that Real ID doesn’t require the address, they just require that, if the state requires it, it has to be verified, is false.
The Real ID law expressly requires that the state ID have a residence address printed on it. So states that previously allowed the use of a mailing address, or concealment of one’s residence address for safety purposes, e.g., had to change that. So, no, it isn’t just verifying what information states already put on the cards.
The requirements don’t make us safer. They put everyone’s information at risk, and they put some individuals at increased personal risk.
It seems to me from looking at the requirements that the main purpose of the law was probably to deny undocumented immigrants drivers licenses.
I took it all the way to the state capitol, talking via phone to Indianapolis. Apparently it’s a clusterf*** all around with thousandsof Hoosiersaffected, but the way the rules are written there’s not much to be done, especially as it is now a done deal. Even though I was lied to I can’t go back and get an unreal license, apparently once you have RealID you can ONLY have RealID forever afterward, even if you were deceived regarding your options.
I am very unhappy about this, which is why I retained a lawyer and I’m going to court to get a document saying, essentially, my name really is my name. It’s insane and crazy, but I didn’t want to be arguing with bureaucrats the rest of my life about this.
