PORTLAND -- On April 7, as the Legislature was debating whether to pass LD 2309 to move toward compliance with the federal REAL ID Act, Commissioner of Public Safety Ann Jordan applied for over $2 million in funds from the Department of Homeland Security REAL ID Demonstration Grant Program. Maine was awarded just over $1 million for REAL ID implementation last week.

The budget request solicits funds for the implementation of Digimarc type facial recognition technology, the installation and implementation of the SAVE system, and what appears to be the installation of technology to facilitate a shared database system. At the time that the budget request was made, Maine law, passed as LD 1138 in 2007, explicitly prohibited any compliance with the federal REAL ID Act.

"The Governor and Commissioner Jordan have pulled a bait and switch on Mainers and the legislature," said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union. "The legislature expressly prohibited the expenditure of funds to implement REAL ID because of the giant privacy concerns associated with the vast federal program."

Under threat from the Department of Homeland Security that Mainers wouldn't be able to board planes, the Maine Legislature narrowly passed LD 2309 in April, 2008 moving Maine toward partial compliance with REAL ID.

LD 2309 institutes a legal presence requirement and requires the Secretary of State to report back to the Legislature regarding the most cost effective way to implement biometrics technology. LD 2309 does NOT direct the Secretary of State to implement Digimarc facial recognition technology, a system that is inherently susceptible to false matches.

"Mainers shouldn't have to be fingerprinted, retinal scanned, or undergo facial recognition screening in order to get a Maine driver license," said Bellows. "That's why people's veto of LD 2309, is so critical. We need to stop the privacy nightmare that is REAL ID now."

The Maine Civil Liberties Union has joined a broad coalition of groups opposed to Maine's REAL ID law and is working with volunteers to gather the requisite 55,087 signatures by July 17 for a people's veto of LD 2309.

"Under the REAL ID and under LD 2309, Mohamed Atta would still be able to get a REAL ID or a Maine driver license, but the elderly woman from Fort Kent who was born in a Canadian hospital or the Hurricane Katrina victim would not," said Bellows. "Commissioner Jordan seems willing to sacrifice Mainers' fundamental liberties for an expensive system that undermines our privacy without making us any safer."