One of Gavin Newsom’s first acts after taking office as governor in January was to create a “DMV Reinvention Strike Team” to improve the performance of the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

This came after one of the worst years a state agency has had in recent history. In August 2018, CalWatchdog and many other news outlets reported that wait times were nearly 50 percent longer at DMV offices than the previous summer. The problem was blamed on a heavy increase in visits caused by the federal 2005 Real ID Act. It requires Californians to have either passports or new federal ID cards before they can take commercial flights starting in October 2020. The DMV is the agency that issues the Real IDs.

A month later, another scandal emerged, with thousands of thousands of voters reporting errors in their political party affiliation due to mistakes made in the DMV’s new “motor voter” automatic registration program, which began in April 2018. An audit released in August of this year found the problem was far worse than initially believed, with more than a quarter-million errors in registration in the first five months of the program – 83,684 duplicate voter registrations and 171,145 DMV records with inconsistencies on party membership.

Newsom’s “strike team” issued its report in July on what it had done to fix the agency and said internal data showed a reduction in wait teams of 58 minutes over the previous summer. Two weeks ago, the DMV issued a statement saying that wait times had continued to decline and averaged 38 minutes in September. 

But now the DMV’s other 2018 problem has re-emerged with reports in Northern California of pervasive errors in motor voter registrations, prompting Republican lawmakers to renew their call to put the program on hold until its flaws are comprehensively fixed.

At least 600 complaints so far; number could soar

“At least 600 Californians, including lifelong Republicans and Democrats, have had their voter registration unexpectedly changed, and several county elections officials are pinning much of the blame on the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles,” the Sacramento Bee reported. The daughter of California Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, who had recently used a Sacramento County DMV office, was among those affected. Grove is a leading critic of motor voter.

Sacramento CBS 13’s news team reported at least 300 apparent complaints in Santa Clara County, nearly 200 in Sacramento County and at least 100 in Shasta County.

Reports noted that it’s possible that some of the mistakes were made by voters themselves not used to election services at DMV and that some voters may have misremembered what party status they had chosen previously. But as CBS 13 reported, problems appeared to be turning up in every county as soon as registrars began sending out voter notifications related to the March primary. With El Dorado County sending out notifications last Friday and dozens of counties doing so in coming weeks, the dimensions of the problem could be far bigger than initially assumed – just like last year.

Oregon, which introduced its version of motor voter in January 2016, has had far fewer problems.

Californians can check how they are presently registered at https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/ and they can change their status if needed at https://registertovote.ca.gov/.

It’s back to the bad old days of being both a punching bag and a punchline for the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

In the final decades of the 20th century, the state DMV was scorned for its bureaucratic sluggishness and bored clerks. But the arrival of the internet as a tool to make taking care of some routine transactions much easier online and to schedule appointments for tests and renewals produced an era of relatively positive appraisals.

In 2006, San Jose Mercury-News reporter Gary Richards caught this moment in a front-page story:

“People coming in to renew licenses, solve registration problems, pay fees and deal with what was once a most painful experience.

“Not any more. This is the new Department of Motor Vehicles, where customer service is a top priority, waits are down to minutes, there are chairs, and even clean bathrooms. Frowns, scowls and worried looks of the past have been replaced by – get this – smiling customers.

“All the result of beefed-up staffing, internet service options and a new electronic queuing system at most branches.”

In 2008, Richards did a follow-up column in which he wrote about positive experiences that local readers had at DMV offices in San Mateo, Redwood City and Los Gatos.

But after the events of 2018, this brief era of goodwill toward the DMV seems like distant, almost implausible history. Wait times are nearly 50 percent longer at DMV offices than last summer.

Agency officials blame the increased workload created by the state’s obligations under the federal 2005 Real ID Act. By October 2020, Californians must have new federal ID cards before they can fly on commercial aircrafts. The DMV began issuing the IDs on Jan. 1.

But despite having years to prepare for the new obligation, DMV leaders seemed surprised by the extra workload.

Bitter public complaints have already led the Legislature to appropriate nearly $17 million so the agency can hire 230 new workers to reduce wait times. But based on public complaints, those hired so far haven’t seemed to improve wait times.

When legislative Democrats last week heeded the Brown administration’s request and balked at asking state Auditor Elaine Howle to review the DMV, the scandal – or at least criticism from state pundits – only intensified.

Last weekend, in its latest move to address critics, the DMV began keeping 60 offices around the state open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

DMV chief says she expects much faster service

The agency’s director, Jean Shiomoto, told the Sacramento Bee that her goal is for those with appointments to wait no more than 15 minutes and for those without appointments to wait no more than 45 minutes.

“You’ve got to put an ambitious goal out there to reach it,” she said. “That is what we are definitely working to achieve.”

But lawmakers don’t seem confident of any relief soon.

Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, announced that she planned to introduce legislation that would give 90-day extensions of renewal deadlines for those with licenses that expire this year.

Her rationale: “No Californian should spend an entire day off work waiting in line to take care of DMV business or wait for several weeks to make an appointment. The media stories and firsthand accounts from constituents about shockingly long wait times and other logistical challenges at DMV offices demands that the Legislature act quickly.”