They’re being treated like fake IDs.
The Maine Secretary of State’s office confirmed that some Real IDs issued by the state have been rejected at various Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints.
“A tiny fraction of Maine REAL IDs could not be read by the TSA bar code readers,” an official with Maine’s Department of the Secretary of State told the Sun.
The organization assured the public that the problem “appears to be sporadic” and rare and that none of the “very few” impacted parties had “experienced a disruption in their travel.”
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) officials collaborated with the TSA to get to the bottom of said issue, which has persisted for several months.
They found that the glitch was due to one of the state’s instant-issue printing machines, which has fortunately now been fixed.
New Hampshire REAL IDs experienced similar issues in May, local news station WGME reported.
Meanwhile, “the TSA suggested the customers contact BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles) when they returned from their trip for a replacement,” the official told the told the Sun Journal. They are reportedly replacing them for free.
It’s yet unclear how many licenses are affected. The BMV is relying on people to self-report problems so they can receive replacements.
However, the TSA told Maine’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles that “95% of Maine travelers” have a compliant document, per the secretary of state’s office.
Unfortunately, security checkpoints weren’t the only places that were rejecting Maine residents’ Real ID-compliant driver’s licenses and IDs, which have been required to access domestic flights and certain federal facilities since May 7.
In a post uploaded to Reddit, a Pine Tree State resident claimed their Real ID-complaint license was declined by Herz because “it would not scan.” Others have reported in unverified Reddit posts that their docs had been rejected at gas stations.
To prevent potential ID-scanning fiascos, the TSA is encouraging travelers to bring a backup ID with them.
Acceptable forms of identification include US passports, US passport cards, foreign passports, permanent resident cards, border crossing cards and others.
A temporary driver’s license is not acceptable, per the TSA, which notes that children under 18 are not required to provide ID while traveling within the US.
Coincidentally, before the federal mandate, Maine had a Real ID compliance rate of just 27% — one of the lowest in the country.
That figure increased to 32% by July 1.
This comes as the TSA made a major change to the security screening process.
The TSA recently announced the launch of an expedited PreCheck process, in which passengers simply flash their face to a facial recognition scanner at checkpoints in lieu of having to present a boarding pass or ID with the PreCheck indicator.
The enhanced screening measure is already available to those flying with participating airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
For now, the service is offered at just 15 airports across the US, including John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.
