The Pittsburgh DMV is not giving free voter ID, contrary to federal law. Specifically, the DMV supervisor who refused to give it to me is named Dana Nash. This happened today (8/17/2012) at 10AM at the DMV located at 708 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. My original intention was just to change my driver's license to a PA license, and I brought all the many required ID and residency forms plus cash and a credit card. I followed the instructions on the DMV website, but it turns out they forgot to mention only checks or money orders were acceptable. That's not a big deal, the main thing is I wanted to make sure to have ID to vote with for the November election. So then I tried to get at least free state ID while I was at the DMV, because I want to vote. I was told I cannot get free state ID, because my driver's license is still valid in another state. They won't change the driver's license for free, and they won't give me a state ID for free, even though I have all the ID and I am renting an apartment here and have all the proof (rental agreement, Verizon bill to the address, and all the forms of ID they require). He told me that people who want free voter IDs have to come back to that DMV office on August 27th, when they will start giving out a state ID that will be valid ONLY for voting purposes (and they are not accepting applications until that date). Their DMV website says nothing about separate voting IDs only starting to be given out on August 27th. I already had to take my whole morning off of work (bike+bus to the DMV, wait to be served, wait for them to decide what to do with my request for free voter ID, then bike+bus to work), and now according to him I should go back on August 27th... except that he also said I wasn't eligible because I have a valid driver's license. According to the DMV website, I shouldn't have to wait until August 27th and have to return and waste more time - I should have been able to get my free state ID for voting TODAY. While I was waiting there, I spoke with a man there was helping his father, who wanted a free voter ID but was told he had to pay $13 for it (and he did). Someone needs to fix this, because clearly the law about not having to pay to vote is NOT being followed.
Sat Aug 18, 2012 at 9:48 AM PT: Update: It turns out the DMV website has a link that says only checks and money orders are accepted, so that was my error. Still, it is a barrier to only accept these forms of payment, and much more importantly and totally separate from the driver's license payment issue, is that after realizing I couldn't get my license transferred that day, I was denied free voter ID when I asked for it.