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Good news if you'd been dreading trying to get one of those new federally-approved licenses at the RMV

The Department of Homeland Security announced today it's extending its deadline to have a "Real ID" to fly from May 7 next year to May 7, 2025.

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So now it will be 20 years after the law was enacted before it is enforced. Classic.

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I signed up for my Real ID at AAA and it was easy-peasy. Just read the document checklist CAREFULLY and, if in doubt, bring more documents than you think you need in case they decide one you have isn't acceptable.

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It's worth the price of membership to not have to go to the registry.

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I got mine by appointment, done in 15 minutes with friendly service. (I still hate the photo.)

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"This is absolutely vital for national security - you have one year"
"Nah, don't want to"
"OK one more year, because this is so important"
"We don't have the right equipment"
"OK, you have two more years, but this is firm to protect the country"
"Again, we don't want to"
"One more year, then, but this time I mean it"

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Look at the huge number of terrorist attacks that have happened since we haven't had these IDs in place! Why, there have been so many attacks caused by non-citizens using US-issued IDs to fly on planes that I can't even think of where to begin listing them.

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It's about shaving seconds off the process of clearing people through security, which doesn't seem like much until you get to a long line. It adds up, with non-trivial economic impact.

Regardless of how long it took to get there, this is a rare post-9/11 airport measure that doesn't look to me like security theater. I'm one of those fliers who always arrives early, but even the TSA-Pre line isn't the breeze it used to be.

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even the TSA-Pre line isn't the breeze it used to be.

You have your experiential data, I have mine, and I don't have data data anymore since TSAstatus shut down a couple of years ago, precisely because pre-check basically fixed, after 10 years, the issues the TSA had introduced.

That said, I've traveled through about 20 TSA checkpoints in the past couple of years and had to wait for a combined total of about 15 minutes with pre-check (of which all of them were for an early flight in MSP where the morning security is a hot mess although it's gotten a bit better over time). Never had any issues at Logan, certainly, and at times bypassed non pre lines elsewhere.

Maybe I've gotten lucky?

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than mine.

I've noticed long TSA-Pre lines in my last three flights out of Logan (in recent weeks), and mentioned it to colleagues, who confirmed similar experiences.

Still glad I took the trouble to get the clearance; even when it's not great, it's always much better than the other line.

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And I’ve never waited more than 10 mins in a TSA pre-check line. I think it’s a combination of experienced flyers, quicker security checks (don’t have to wait for the pervert machine to finish perving), and, obviously, less people.

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The line to get into the Pre-Check area was longer than the standard line, and I thought for a second about moving over, but once you were actually at the belt/metal detector it was super quick. Coming back from LAX, the entire show-ID-to-collect-your-bag process was about 45 seconds long. And don't even get me started about how great Global Entry was the first time I used it this fall (after being the dumbass who signed up for five years of it in February 2020)

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and am glad for the reminder to check its renewal status. (I've got a couple of years.)

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I think it's reasonable to both 1) disagree that there's a big security need to show ID when traveling as an airplane passenger and 2) believe that if there is going to be a federal requirement for state driver licensing to verify status, then that shouldn't take 15+ years to get that done.

And while we're at it 3) believe that it's reasonable to require voters to present ID at the polls.

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is that historically it disenfranchises many voters who are poor, elderly and/or PoC, while ignoring the fact that cases of voter fraud are vanishingly rare.

It might be easy for you to obtain a government ID, but it's a franchise-stealing burden for many, with no demonstrable benefit to election security.

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Here in Boston, you have to go to the correct place for your neighborhood and then to the correct table for your precinct. They ask for your name and street number. While none of that would take rocket science to figure out if you were trying to scam an extra vote, it's also enough of a "hurdle" so that they aren't just handing a ballot to everyone who walks in.

I have no problem with the polling place having the right to ask for ID if there is some question about your eligibility, but they don't need to ask everyone for it. It's just not necessary.

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Making the process “don’t need to ask everyone” leads to only “certain people” being asked for it.

Don’t get me wrong. I see the point in showing ID to vote, but whoever mandates it needs to ensure that getting the ID isn’t too much of a burden and that it is a consistent process.

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Or you could just use your passport as your National ID rather than your Driver's License standing in a one.

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and maybe risk misplacing it on a domestic trip is a worthwhile plus to me. It's a hard-to-replace, valuable asset: I try to minimize carrying such things when I travel.

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I use my passport anyway.

But then I screwed up and put my renewal paperwork aside until I only had 4 days to renew and they wouldn't do it online. Since it cost the same and I had to go in person anyway, and I only needed a couple extra pieces of paper, I went ahead and got the super dooper version.

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It's card-shaped, so it goes in your wallet. Doesn't do much other than land crossings to Canada and Mexico. $30 and it's good for 10 years and for anything federal (it's a Real ID).

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I got mine back in March 2021. The T had a big ad campaign on buses at the time. I don't even fly for business but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

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I was due for a new license and took care of it at AAA in no time, on a Saturday!

The only tricky thing for those of us with characters like apostrophes in their name (I assume hyphens too), every supporting document you are using to prove something about your identity must have the exact same spelling, which is the spelling that will appear on the new license. Some official documents, including ones issued by the federal government, have long ignored those characters when sending you what would otherwise have counted as a supporting document.

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