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An audit of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles found that the state has been handing out licenses to dead people. According to the audit, the RMV issued more than 1,900 licenses and 10,000 disability placards for people who were deceased.
A spokesperson outright rejected the claims regarding 1900-some issued driver's licenses, and blamed the mistakes on an old software system which has since been replaced.
Massachusetts' State Auditor Suzanne Bump, the director of the audit, is holding firm. She's called the RMV's license issuance platform "significantly flawed" further called for its overhauling.
“The failure to prevent individuals from obtaining identification under the names of deceased people creates a significant public safety risk to the Commonwealth. Fixing this problem must be a top priority for the RMV. Recent upgrades to the computer systems at the RMV provide it with more tools; now the agency must use them in conjunction with the data sources at its disposal to address this problem.”
- Suzanne Bump, Massachusetts State Auditor
Interestingly enough, the RMV didn't reject the findings regarding the 10,000 handicapped placards, but then again, the abuse of disability placards in Massachusetts has been well-documented since 2016, so maybe that's not that big of a surprise.
Jaqueline Goddard, spokesperson for the Massachusetts RMV was quick to counter the auditor's findings, conversely accusing that it is their report which is faulty and based on outdated information which has since been improved on the RMV's end.
She also disputed Bump's claims of a major discrepancy in revenue, with over $211 million income being unexplained.
Read more over at CBS Boston.