Dispatch from the front lines of the Wisconsin DMV
by Rebecca Meacham
8/27/11
On Thursday, August 26, 2011, I accompanied my mother Ruth, who has just moved to WI from Ohio, to the Brown County DMV to obtain her Wisconsin Driver's license. This was our third trip in 2 weeks. It was "successful," in that we got what we came for. But it was also distressing, hostile, and as my mother put it, "sad."
The first time we went to the DMV, arriving at 9 am, we walked into a room so crowded and rank with summer sweat, we decided to wait for another day.
The second time we went to the DMV, we were first in line at 9:30 am, and a line of 30+people formed behind us before the place opened at 10 am. During that visit, my mother was able to get her car registration transferred, but not a license. The man at the "information" counter deemed that her proof of residency was unacceptable.
You Are Not Here* (*unless you want to pay for plates. Then, by all means: You Are Here!)
Wisconsin has also just enacted a new Voter ID law, requiring a photo ID for a person to exercise his/her constitutional right to vote.
Here's what the WI DMV's website says will prove one's residency for a PHOTO ID card or DRIVER'S LICENSE:
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