12,000 Rejected For ID's
Ann Imse at the Rocky Mountain News found out just how much fun this isn't..
Rocky reporter Ann Imse got of glimpse of Colorado's document requirements.On Monday, I learned just how tough it is to get a driver's license in this state. I discovered that even with my current license and current passport, I would not be able to renew my license. I've lived here 18 years. Department of Revenue Director Roxy Huber said my name and Social Security number would be punched into the federal Social Security database and it would reply, "No match."
That's because my parents used my middle name, Elizabeth, when they requested a Social Security number for me. I haven't used my middle name since college. My family name is so rare that I'm the only Ann Imse in the United States anyway. So Elizabeth is not on my driver's license, and it's not on my passport. But it's part of my legal name. Huber recommended I find my birth certificate. That may be easier said than done. It's filed at home under "warranties." I hope.
Colorado's top official in charge of issuing driver's licenses on Monday dismissed concerns that the state's rules make it too easy to get a state-issued ID.
Since February, the state has rejected 12,000 applicants seeking Colorado driver's licenses and identification cards, said Roxy Huber, executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Applicants must "always prove identity and lawful presence before we grant a driver's license," Huber said at a meeting with the Transportation Legislation Review Committee.
Most of the 12,000 returned with the proper records to prove they qualified for a state-issued ID, Huber said. Overall, the state has issued 282,956 ID cards and driver's licenses since February.
Huber's comments to the committee came in the wake of Gov. Bill Ritter's veto of a controversial bill that would have forced the state to accept documents that it currently doesn't allow.
House Bill 1313 would have made it easier for some applicants to prove their identity by allowing the use of insurance records, marriage certificates or tax returns.
Huber said her department has a duty to verify identity and legal U.S. residency and that the bill "would have required us to accept something that would not have provided both."
Instead, the department has established rules to handle the tough cases when applicants don't have the proper records. Those rules provide an appeals process to investigate the applications.
"What the rules do is create a process," Huber said. "What 1313 did is create a requirement
Denver Post
1 comment:
Last year I moved from CA to CO. I went to a local county office where there was no line for licenses and was told that I would have to get it in the county where I live...oh that is Denver, so be prepared for at least half a day. I took time off work and found the remote, but large looking DMV office. I went in and presented my valid CA license, and just for backup, my passport. I was told that was not sufficient. I was told to get proof of my birth in the US. I spent most of one night going through old boxes and finally found my birth document. It was given me by my mother and was signed by the hospital. I again took off of work and went to the DMV. I presented the evidence of my birth in Los Angeles County. I was told that was not proof of birth in the US!! I needed my LA County birth certificate. It was now getting towards the expiration of my CA drivers license, and I had gone to South Carolina and did all sorts of transactions, such as boarding planes, with the identification that still had my residence address from several years ago. Not as up to date as a valid Colorado driver's license, where I had been living for now 5 months, without being able to get a legal identification. I tried to talk with a supervisor at the DMV and was blown off with a copy of a page from their regulations, no empathy there.
Once I got a certified copy of my birth certificate from CA, I took another day off from work to go sit in the hard chairs for only 2 hours...there were so many rejections the line was not that long, that day.
My friend was able to get three different colorado identifications with different names and different addresses, and different license numbers, for a few bucks, easily made...go figure.
Post a Comment