NC DMV grants Asheville resident, 86, photo ID after initially rejecting her

Sure, Reba Miller Bowser will get to vote in the March 15 North Carolina presidential-election primary.

But that’s only because the rejection of the 86-year-old Asheville resident’s attempt earlier this week to obtain a photo ID has gained statewide attention, said her son, Ed Bowser.

“Yes, the (North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles) is bending over backwards in my mother’s individual situation, but if the DMV hadn’t been called to task by the media and there hadn’t been so much outrage and concern, would they be doing it?” Bowser asked.

The question disturbs Bowser, 64, because it raises a concern that many have about North Carolina’s voter ID law: Namely, will people who have the legal right to vote in the state be able to do so in the primary and the general election Nov. 8?

DMV officials visited Miller Bowser at her home about 1 p.m. Friday to ensure she is able to obtain a photo ID, said Marge Howell, a division spokeswoman based in Raleigh.

“If the law has all these loopholes, why have it at all?” said Bowser, who lives in Asheville with his wife, Amy Knisley, 51.

“If things were that ambiguous in our situation, what’s going to happen at the polls?” Bowser continued. “If the DMV doesn’t know what to do, what are poll workers supposed to do? The safest thing will be to not let people vote if they don’t have a photo ID.”

Proponents of new North Carolina’s voter ID law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, argue it will reduce fraud.

Opponents say the legislation – passed in 2013 and amended last year – poses obstacles that will prevent potential voters who won’t be able to fulfill the requirements for a DMV ID.

Bowser and Knisley declined to allow the Citizen-Times to interview Miller Browser to avoid confusing and upsetting her, they said.

“We’re going to offer (Miller Bowser) the opportunity to sign an affidavit that certifies she’s the person who’s applying for the ID card,” said Howell, the DMV spokeswoman.

“That’s an option we’ve had in place for years,” Howell said.

If that’s true, the DMV officials didn’t know it when Miller Bowser tried to obtain a photo ID card at the division’s Patton Avenue office Monday. Her son accompanied her, he said.

They didn’t offer Miller Bowser the affidavit option, her son said. Instead, they rejected her application.

That, despite Miller Bowser presenting two birth certificates, a Social Security card, a Medicare card, a cable bill and an apartment lease.

DMV officials told Miller Bowser that they needed a document that showed she had legally changed her maiden name to her married name, her son said.

“We made a mistake; that’s the main thing,” the DMV’s Howell said. “(The agency employees at the DMV’s Patton Avenue office) had not undergone training yet. There are different ways in dealing with the documents presented. It’s something we want to change and make sure doesn’t happen again.”

But Howell could not identify the mistake the Asheville DMV officials had made in reviewing Miller Bowser’s documents.

And Miller Bowser’s son said the person helping his mother left the desk to double-check with a superior before rejecting her application.

“(The DMV official) got some direction that we didn’t have the proper documentation because my mother’s (last) name on her birth certificate and Social Security didn’t match,” Bowser said.

Miller Bowser moved to Asheville from New Hampshire in 2012. Her driver’s license from that state expired just over a year ago.

The name on her Pennsylvania birth certificate from 1929 identifies her as Reba Witmer Miller. When she married her husband in 1950, she changed her name to Reba Miller Bowser.

“Reba M. Bowers” is the name that appears on her Social Security Card and her expired New Hampshire driver’s license.

Howell said the agency is “looking at our training procedures and how our employees are learning the right way to do things.”

Howell also said that her understanding is that the Asheville DMV officials were unaware of the affidavit option.

“We’re very happy to correct any mistake, holdup and delay for her,” Howell said. “We don’t want the voter ID card process to be difficult. We want it to be easy.”

Knisley, Miller Bowser’s daughter-in-law, said the 86-year-old was pleased with the resolution.

“She’s feeling encouraged,” Knisley said, adding that her mother-in-law plans to register as an unaffiliated voter.

North Carolina has a semi-open primary. Voters registered as unaffiliated may cast votes in any recognized party's primary. Voters registered with a party, however, may vote only in their party’s primary.

Miller Bowser was “feeling better” than she was on Tuesday, Knisley said.

“She was discouraged” that day, Knisley said. “She felt North Carolina didn’t treat old people nicely and it was not really worth it to go through the trouble (to get an ID). She had decided not to vote.”

But a groundswell of support for Miller Bowser emerged after Knisley wrote a Facebook post Monday about the situation, Knisley said.

“DMV said they saw it on Facebook and called me,” Knisley said. “I think they were concerned about public relations.”

Terry Fuller, DMV’s acting state chief examiner, said his colleagues brought Miller Bowser’s situation to his attention.

Howell said North Carolina DMV Commissioner Kelly Thomas “had been discussing it with various news outlets” and that it had been “a topic of conversation for the last day.”

Knisley said she also filed a complaint with U.S. Department of Justice on Miller Bowser’s behalf.

“Ed and I are both glad that the DMV responded,” Knisley said. “On the other side, it’s so unnerving that a person who’s a legal citizen, who’s been voting for 65 years and has all the proper documentation can walk into a DMV and be denied a photo ID.”

North Carolina's Voter ID Law

The General Assembly passed the state's voter ID law in 2013 and amended it last year. It went into effect Jan. 1.

Acceptable forms of ID

-NC driver's license (can be expired)

-US passport (unexpired)

-US military or veterans identification card, issued by the Department of Defense or Department of Veterans Affairs, containing a photo. An ID containing an expiration date must be unexpired, but IDs without an expiration date are also accepted.

-A tribal enrollment card issued by a federally recognized tribe. If the card does not have an expiration date, it may still be used if the card has a date of issuance that is within 8 years of the date it is presented.

A tribal enrollment card issued by a tribe recognized by North Carolina under Chapter 71A that is (i) issued in accordance with a process approved by the State Board of Elections requiring an application and proof of identity equivalent to the requirements for issuance of a special identification card by the Division of Motor Vehicles, and (ii) signed by an elected official of the tribe.

-Driver's license or special identification card issued by another state, D.C., or a territory or commonwealth of the U.S. only if the voter's registration was within 90 days of the election.

-Voters who are over the age of 70 may use acceptable photo ID that has been expired for any length of time, provided the ID expired after the voter turned 70.

Voters without an ID

Voters who are unable to obtain an acceptable photo ID due to a reasonable impediment can vote a provisional ballot if they also sign a declaration describing the impediment and provide date of birth and last four digits of social security number, or an acceptable document bearing their name and address (i.e. a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or other government-issued document). The ballot will be counted when the information on the declaration is verified and all other elibility requirements are met.

An individual who voted a provisional ballot due to lack of photo ID can also come in person to the CBOE no later than 12:00 noon on the day before the election canvass to seek the counting of the ballot. If the voter does one of the following at the CBOE, unless otherwise disqualified, the ballot will be counted:

Present Photo ID – A voter may present photo ID that bears a reasonable resemblance to the voter. The elections officials are to determine if the photo ID bears a reasonable resemblance.

Religious Objection – A voter who had not previously filed a religious objection declaration may show a HAVA document and sign a declaration of their religious objection, as well as have an opportunity to complete a declaration for future elections.

A voter may also choose to apply for an absentee ballot, which does not require a photo ID.

Source:  National Conference of State Legislatures

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