Wisconsin accused of driver's license laxity
By LARRY SANDLER
lsandler@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 19, 2004
A national study Monday blasted Wisconsin for allegedly failing to verify the identity of driver's license applicants, but a state official said the study was misleading.
Because of the holes in the driver's license systems of Wisconsin and other states, "future terrorists could readily acquire counterfeit or false means of identification, just as they did before" the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, prominent sociologist Amitai Etzioni argues in "License to Hide: Security Implications of America's Lax Driver's Licensing Laws."
Etzioni said no state can verify whether applicants hold valid licenses in other states, and therefore they could not stop people from obtaining multiple licenses.
In addition, Etzioni criticized various states for failing to verify applicants' Social Security numbers; not requiring proof that an applicant is a legal resident of both the nation and the state; not tying license expiration dates to foreign citizens' visa expiration dates; and not using biometric information, such as fingerprints, to verify identity.
The study gave a grade of "F" to Wisconsin, Michigan, Oregon and Alaska for not taking any of those steps.
A federal investigation shows, however, that Wisconsin actually is better than other states at detecting fraud by driver's license applicants, said Gary Guenther, director of field services for the state Division of Motor Vehicles.
Investigators from the U.S. General Accounting Office recently tried four times to fraudulently obtain driver's licenses or other vehicle documents for a study that is still under way, Guenther said. Wisconsin authorities caught them every time, and the investigators told Guenther this was the only state where they couldn't get a license, he said.
Regarding Etzioni's claims, Guenther said Wisconsin will hook into the online federal Social Security number verification system this fall. He said the new federal system couldn't handle every state at once.
It's true Wisconsin does not require applicants to prove they're here legally, Guenther said, but the division believes that reflects broader immigration issues that must be sorted out by Congress and the state Legislature.
The study was issued by the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Etzioni, a former policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter, is director of the institute, which promotes a balance between individual rights and social responsibility.
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