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Real ID a real pain for Lafayette woman

LAFAYETTE — What’s in a name and why is this so important to the federal government?

This is a question Peggy Weddington of Lafayette has asked several times over the last months.

Since September, Weddington has been struggling to meet the requirements necessary to get a REAL ID from the state, and her name is proving a problem.

REAL ID is a federal requirement that was passed by Congress in 2005 that modified U.S. federal law on state drivers’ licenses. It is a driver’s license with extra security requirements that are greater than a standard license.

In Minnesota, to apply for REAL ID a person must provide

• One document proving identity, date of birth and legal presence in the United States.

• One document providing Social Security number.

• Two different documents proving current residency in Minnesota.

Typically, the first requirement is satisfied with a birth certificate or passport. The second document requirement is fulfilled by an unlaminated Social Security card. The last documents can be fulfilled through bank statement, utility bill, credit card bill or even an unexpired driver’s license card.

However, since REAL ID has become the standard, licensing bureaus are finding things are a lot more complicated than originally thought, especially when an individual has a name change. However, even if a person’s name has not technically changed, a spelling discrepancy can create significant problems.

Weddington is 74 years old and has never been in trouble with the law. She has held several driver’s licenses most of her life. Her first driver’s license was issued in Illinois. Renewing her license was never a problem, until now. The REAL ID requirements have created a continuing bureaucratic problem for Weddington and it all started with her first name.

For most of her life, Weddington has been spelling her name Peggy with a “y” at the end. The problem is, that’s not how her name is spelled on her birth certificate. Her name on the certificate reads “Peggie” with the “ie.”

For most of her life, Weddington was unaware there was a difference between how she spelled her name and how it was spelled on her birth certificate. Her parents were also unaware of this.

“I was Peggy with “y,” that’s what my parents told me,” she said. When she was given her Social Security card at age 16, her name was spelled with a “Y” on the card.

Weddington is uncertain why her birth certificate has an “ie” spelling. She said her aunt served as a midwife for her and there might have been confusion between what her mother said and how her aunt spelled the name on the form.

No matter the reason, no one caught the spelling discrepancy until 2011. Weddington said as a child, it was never necessary to show a birth certificate, so it never came up. She applied for jobs and filed tax returns using the Peggy spelling without any problems. She received driver’s licenses in multiple states with the “Y” spelling and no state agency seemed to mind.

“How come no one called me on this years before?” she asks.

For Weddington, her birth certificate is no longer sufficient to receive for REAL ID. Now she has to prove when she officially changed her name. This means tracking down documents showing the name change.

This is not an unusual problem in Minnesota. Licensing bureaus across Minnesota see names different from birth certificates every day. Every time a woman takes her husband’s last name, there is a discrepancy between her birth certificate and current name. This means many women are required to provide proof of a name change. A marriage license is often enough to document proof of a name change.

Brown County Licensing Supervisor Jessica Schmit confirmed that this is an issue many married women have to go through in acquiring a REAL ID. The problem is compounded if a person has been married more than once.

Schmit said if a person has been married five times, they will need a copy of the license every time the name changes. They will also need a copy of the divorce papers too to track the changes.

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