Mike Cronin

Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — An 86-year-old resident will get to vote in North Carolina's March 15 primary but only because her attempt to obtain photo identification earlier this week gained statewide attention, her son said.

On Monday, Reba Miller Bowser tried to get the ID at a North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles office by presenting two birth certificates, a Social Security card, a Medicare card, a cable bill and an apartment lease. DMV officials told her they needed a document that showed she had legally changed her maiden name to her married name, said her son Ed Bowser, who accompanied her.

“Yes, the DMV is bending over backwards in my mother’s individual situation, but if the DMV hadn’t been called to task by the media and there hadn’t been so much outrage and concern, would they be doing it?” Bowser asked.

The question disturbs Bowser, 64, because it raises a concern that many have about North Carolina’s voter ID law: Will people who have a legal right to vote in the state be able to do so in the primary and the general election Nov. 8?

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DMV officials visited Miller Bowser at her home about 1 p.m. Friday to ensure she could get a photo ID, said Marge Howell, a DMV spokeswoman based in Raleigh.

“We’re going to offer (her) the opportunity to sign an affidavit that certifies she’s the person who’s applying for the ID card,” Howell said before the visit. “That’s an option we’ve had in place for years.”

But DMV workers Monday didn't offer Miller Bowser that option, her son said. Instead, they rejected her application, confusing her.

“If the law has all these loopholes, why have it at all?” said Bowser, who lives in Asheville with his wife, Amy Knisley, 51.

“If things were that ambiguous in our situation, what’s going to happen at the polls?” Bowser said. “If the DMV doesn’t know what to do, what are poll workers supposed to do? The safest thing will be to not let people vote if they don’t have a photo ID.”

Bowser and Knisley declined to allow the Citizen-Times to interview Miller Browser to avoid additionally confusing and upsetting her, they said.

“We made a mistake; that’s the main thing,” said Howell, who explained that employees at the office Miller Bowser visited had not been trained in this area yet.

"There are different ways in dealing with the documents presented," she said. "It’s something we want to change and make sure doesn’t happen again.”

Howell could not identify the mistake the Asheville DMV officials had made in reviewing Miller Bowser’s documents.

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Bowser said the person helping his mother left the desk to double-check with a superior before rejecting her application.

“(The DMV official) got some direction that we didn’t have the proper documentation because my mother’s (last) name on her birth certificate and Social Security didn’t match,” Bowser said.

Knisley said her mother-in-law was pleased with the resolution and plans to register as an unaffiliated voter.

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“We’re very happy to correct any mistake, holdup and delay for her,” Howell said. “We don’t want the voter ID card process to be difficult. We want it to be easy.”

North Carolina has a semi-open primary. Voters registered as unaffiliated may cast votes in any recognized party's primary. However, voters with a party affiliation can vote only in their party’s primary.

Miller Bowser is now feeling better than earlier in the week, Knisley said.

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“She was discouraged” that day, Knisley said. “She felt North Carolina didn’t treat old people nicely and it was not really worth it to go through the trouble (to get an ID). She had decided not to vote.”

Previously registered voters in North Carolina can choose to apply for an absentee ballot, which does not require photo identification.

But a groundswell of support for Miller Bowser emerged after Knisley said she wrote a Facebook post about the problem.

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“DMV said they saw it on Facebook and called me,” Knisley said. “I think they were concerned about public relations.”

Other news outlets also reported on the story.

Terry Fuller, DMV’s acting state chief examiner, said his colleagues brought Miller Bowser’s situation to his attention.

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Knisley said she also filed a complaint with U.S. Department of Justice on Miller Bowser’s behalf.

“Ed and I are both glad that the DMV responded,” Knisley said. “On the other side, it’s so unnerving that a person who’s a legal citizen, who’s been voting for 65 years and has all the proper documentation can walk into a DMV and be denied a photo ID.”

Follow Mike Cronin on Twitter: @michaelccronin