This is not the rant anyone would be expecting. Sorry.
First off; a heartfelt round of applause for the DMV employees. A slightly huffy, somewhat confrontational person comes and starts asking kinda pushy questions, and they were friendly, empathetic and polite. I’m sure Walker wants to cut their hours and their pay.
Second. I’m sure there are three hundred thousand people without state ID’s at their current address. Some of them have school ID’s which are accepted. The rest of us better get our butts moving. Spread the word that if you are asking for a voter ID, there is a box to check, then it will be free. Put an ad in the damn paper. Don’t yell at the DMV guys.
Third; I don’t know what the deal was with using the son’s bank account for proof of residence. It’s probably an odd way to prove ID which caused people to say random things, and I’m betting everybody who looked at it forgot the amount of money in the bank account sometime in the next two hundred people they saw that day. I’m thinking the guy at the desk was trying to figure out if he could use the statement.
Fourth; Every goddamn legitimate homeless shelter has letterhead stationery. It’s one of a billion little nitpicky things that NPO’s use to establish their credibility, so they can get grants, so they can feed homeless people. And no, they will not give you the piece of paper unless you are a resident in good standing – they have their credibility to maintain, so they can get the money to feed people. And yes, you will have to be a resident at the shelter two weeks later to get the ID.
Fifth; Yes. It sucks. This voter ID thing sucks. The person standing behind the counter at the DMV has to deal with a gazillion misunderstandings and confusion and supervisors and paperwork and little tiny details. Be nice.
I lived in a tiny town, next to a minimally bigger town. Our DMV guys came down, on whatever Tuesday, driving 50 miles in whatever weather hauling whatever kind of stuff, not necessarily liking the other person, to come down and listen to people complaining. But on the other hand, I watched the DMV guy subtly discourage somebody who was obviously not fit for driving on any day from renewing her license. How many lives did he save? One? Two? A bunch of kids at a busstop? Every one of them are nice. Let’s keep the fire pointed where it belongs.
And three cheers for the supervisor at the end of the tape who pointed the woman’s rightful indignation at the proper target. I’m willing to bet he was mad at not being able to ask people if they were looking for a voter ID.
(Obviously, living in a small town has changed me, a lot. I recommend it.)
ooops, I must be getting “unWisconsinized” since I didn’t see the woman in the video as “slightly huffy, somewhat confrontational.”
Really, she seemed very much in control and clear about her questions. But, in my defense(?), I lived in WI half my life, but may have been corrupted by being here in Northern NJ….