More than $27,000 of residents’ money was misused this week when the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) mistakenly printed the wrong information on more than 1,000 licenses it issued.
Paying $27 each, over 1,000 Floridians applied to have the address on their license changed last week, but were issued IDs with their old residency instead.
This is the second time in two weeks the state agency has made this error, affecting more than 10,000 residents in total. In the first instance, 8,567 people had the wrong address printed on their new licenses, while the second occurrence affected 1,402 drivers, according to the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.
Those affected were primarily residents who applied for the change online and discovered the mistake after their new licenses were mailed to them by the state.
The DHSMV has said it will reissue the licenses for free.
The department blamed outdated computer equipment for the errors, saying it intends to ask for $7.4 million in the next Florida state budget to replace the faulty system.
Specifically, a “synchronization delay” was to blame, according to Beth Frady, a spokeswoman for the DHSMV. She said the computers were printing the new licenses faster than it was recording the new addresses.
In Florida, a resident must apply for an updated license within 10 days of moving within the state, or else pay a $30 fine. Official license information is used in the state’s database of registered voters. Florida licenses are also typically used in the state as official identification when residents cash a check, travel or apply for a job.
