Many Mainers may be unprepared for full enforcement of a federal law regulating state-issued identification.
Starting May 7, 2025, the federal government will no longer accept driver’s licenses and identification not compliant with Real ID for boarding domestic flights. Real ID-compliant identification is already required for entering military bases and certain federal facilities.
As of Tuesday, just 20 percent of Mainers had a driver’s license or state identification card compliant with Real ID, one of the lowest compliance rates in the country, according to the Maine secretary of state’s office. That marks an improvement from two years ago when just 1 in 10 Mainers had a compliant form of identification.
Still, Mainers have shown a greater reluctance to opt into Real ID than other New England states.
“Mainers should be aware of the upcoming deadline and consider whether obtaining a REAL ID credential is right for them,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Tuesday morning. “For Mainers who want one — either because they don’t have a passport or other qualifying credential, or they want a backup option for domestic flights — our BMV staff are here to assist you.”
Real ID emerged in 2005 as one of the key recommendations in the 9/11 Commission Report to address national security concerns in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
It set national standards to improve the security of state-issued identification to prevent undocumented immigrants and terrorists from obtaining U.S. driver’s licenses. Several of the 9/11 hijackers had obtained state-issued driver’s licenses in the months leading up to the attacks.
But many states balked at what they saw as federal overreach. And the Maine Legislature in 2007 passed a law prohibiting the state from complying with Real ID amid concerns that it would create a de facto “internal passport.”
That nationwide protest among states prompted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which Congress tasked with enforcing Real ID, to repeatedly delay enforcement since the original deadline of May 11, 2008. Under the Obama administration, Homeland Security took a harder stance against noncompliance, and more states began adopting the standards.
Maine’s prohibition was eventually repealed, in April 2017, when lawmakers passed a bill directing the secretary of state’s office to finally bring Maine into compliance with Real ID.
But those skepticisms of Real ID linger in Maine, where people still harbor serious privacy concerns and remain wary of federalizing state-issued identification. It’s not just skepticism of Real ID that’s driving the lower opt-in rate.
Some Mainers, especially those in the rural north, have been used to frequent travel across the border into Canada and may already have an accepted alternative, such as a U.S. passport or passport card.
Other barriers include the high level of documentation required. For instance, women who have changed their last names either through marriage or divorce need to provide documentation for those changes.
Another factor is cost. A compliant noncommercial driver’s license costs $55, compared with $30 for one that’s noncompliant. That’s even more marked for an ID card, which costs $30 to comply with Real ID versus $5 for one that doesn’t.
Maine’s late adoption didn’t help matters. Maine only began issuing compliant identification on July 1, 2019, whereas highly compliant Vermont began doing so in 2014.
What makes a compliant license stand apart is a golden outline of the state of Maine with a white star within it in the top right corner. That signals you met all the requirements to get a Real ID.
If you don’t have a Real ID, you will instead see a message that reads: “Not intended for federal purposes.”
“Mainers who don’t have a REAL ID credential yet but want one should come in to a branch sooner rather than later,” Deputy Secretary of State for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Cathie Curtis said Tuesday. “Processing times for REAL ID credentials require a couple weeks, so taking the time now could save a traveler a big headache at the airport this time next year.”
Mainers who decide to opt out can still use accepted alternatives, such as a U.S. passport or passport card, to prove their identities in order to board domestic flights.
