Michigan's REAL ID Audit Reveals Customer Service Gaps: What This Means for You

Michigan Auditor General's Report on MDOS Branch Offices

Presenting the results of their May 2025 audit of the Branch Office Division of the Michigan Department of State, the state Auditor General’s office explained four primary findings and areas for improvement to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government.

REAL ID Compliance Issues

One significant finding was that the Branch Operations Division "did not always maintain documentation to support it complied with the applicable REAL ID and enhanced driver’s license and identification card security requirements."

REAL ID refers to a driver’s license or state identification card that has been verified with proof of U.S. citizenship and proof of legal residence in the U.S. They are distinguishable by the gold star in the upper right-hand corner.

Based on a random sample of 60 branch office transactions from across the state, 12 of which were related to REAL IDs, the auditor general’s office noted that the division did not maintain documentation to support six of the 12 transactions — six were missing a copy of the applicant’s proof of Social Security number, while five were missing a copy of the applicant’s proof of residency.

Christina Anderson, chief of staff for the Secretary of State, explained the Department of State processes that allowed this to happen, adding that in December 2024, TSA audited the department and found that the practices were in line with federal regulations.

"When we are processing a REAL ID transaction, we scan all documentation, we check it against federal databases, including a social security number, and we retain images of all documentation except for the Social Security number," she said. "The reason for that is a database that has a scanned copy of the social security numbers of 10 million Michiganders is an extremely high cybersecurity and security risk."

In response to questions from Rep. Matt Maddock (R-Milford), Snyder added that the audit results did not necessarily mean that the proof of residency and Social Security number were not provided during the transaction, just that the records were not available after the fact for auditors to examine.

Customer Service Concerns

Another finding was related to customer service concerns, especially surrounding wait times and responsiveness. Based on a sample of 13 branch offices out of the 131 total, Snyder explained, wait times were not consistently tracked — in some branches, it was based on when a person entered the office, while in others, it was based on when a person went to the service counter.

Anderson explained that those discrepancies are based on variance in staffing levels across branches — 80 of the 131 branches do not have greeters, she said.

"If you visited one of our Secretary of State branches recently that’s a more busy one, you’ll notice that there’s a greeter right when you walk into the door, who will greet you, who will check you in for your appointment," Anderson said. "For the branches that do not have a greeter station, the fact is, we don’t have the staff there to have someone that’s meeting someone at the door, and so that is the result. That’s why we had these different methods of what the start time is."

Customer Feedback and Response

Anderson also highlighted that customer feedback, now largely sourced through a survey sent after an office visit by survey company Qualtrics, was very positive — though the auditor’s report only identified 44% of comments as positive.

Maddock also cast doubts on the validity of the comments, especially those coming from Google, however, saying, "I think your positive reviews are a scam."

Anderson pushed back on that, noting that the office does not generally rely on Google Reviews, referring again to the Qualtrics system.

"The 36,498 folks who have responded have given us a 4.6 overall satisfaction rating. 92% have said that they were satisfied, or very satisfied," she said. "We’ve gotten a 4.272 click friendliness rating, and 94% of respondents said we were able to solve their problems on the first visit."