It's not that simple. If this would have been in place this past November, I wouldn't have been able to vote. There are issues with DMV renewals
that will disenfranchise people on election day if their ID expires in the days before election day.
My birthday is very early in November--sometimes election day is even on my birthday.
For people like me who have a birthday that falls at the end of October or the beginning of November, you will not have a valid ID card on election
day if you physically have to go to the DMV to renew your license, non-driver's ID card or learner's permit--meaning that you will not be able to
vote.
Reason being is that the DMV does not let you renew your license/state id/learner's permit in person more than 29 days prior to expiration. And
there are many reasons why people have to go to the DMV--anyone that has to re-take a picture, re-do an eye-test, certain classes of licenses can only
renew in person, all non-driver ID's and learner's permits, if you have to take an accident re-examination, any driver with an outstanding ticket
or dispute, anyone who has lost an ID, etc.
It can take 4 to 6 weeks to get your new ID in the mail (and it took 8 weeks to get mine when I renewed) and this means that you have to walk around
for weeks with an expired ID--it is a real pain, especially because to get into any building in NYC, you need to show a state ID.
But for those of us that are born at the end of October/the beginning of November, it means that we won't have a valid state ID on election day if we
have to renew our ID that year.
I don't particularly like the thought of being disenfranchised every few years just because of when I was born.
Even if you are able to do a mail-in renewal, if the form or new license gets lost in the mail, you are SOL.
What's even worse, is that the DMV doesn't mention anything about this policy on the website--and there are no signs posted anywhere in the DMV. I
waited on line, re-took my written test & eye test, waiting on 45 minute to hour-long lines between each, only to find out when it came time to pay
that I was a day early and that I would have to come back tomorrow and do the whole thing over again. And people wonder why there are so many
shootings at government offices...
I was so mad I had to rant about it
here...
So unless this bill comes with rules that change the bureaucracy at the DMV, there could be potentially thousands of people with late October and
early November birthdays disenfranchised on election day each year--and I could be one of them.
Thanks Hill & Chuck for sticking up for me!