MADISON, WI (WSAU) — Assembly leaders are looking for answers and accountability from the DMV following reports that employees in at least seven service centers have been giving misinformation on obtaining a photo ID for this November’s election.
The employees have been misinforming people who are looking to obtain the ID even if they lack a social security card or birth certificate, which is something the DMV has been ordered to provide after a voter ID court ruling. Assembly Assistant Minority Leader Katrina Shankland (D-Stevens Point) says that these mistakes are unacceptable.
She said, “We need to make sure that not even one voter is lost in the process. We should err on the side of ensuring everyone has the ability to access their constitutional right to vote, and if that takes the DMV through more training, then so be it. They absolutely need to do their jobs and ensure that everyone can vote.”
The DMV’s Administrator, Kristina Boardman, has claimed that she had no knowledge of the lack of training for the employees and the information they had been giving. For Shankland, not knowing doesn’t wash the department clean of misgivings.
“They’re responsible for training their employees, and they had said in the past they had expressed confidence in the quality of their training, so clearly they need to, at a minimum, make sure that every employee is trained properly all over again,” said Shankland.
“It looks like about 400 workers will participate on an online training, but I also think they need to do more in person. I think every manager at the DMV needs to 100% ensure that every employee there knows the correct protocol.”
Shankland and the other Assembly Democrats signed a letter expressing their concerns about the DMV earlier this week.
